Man, 2023 was a rollercoaster. All the chatter online was about Virgos needing a career shake-up, asking if they should quit. I totally get it because I lived that mess, and not just the smooth parts you read in self-help books. I am going to walk you through the whole gritty process I went through, step-by-step, not the polished version.
The Nagging Feeling: Early 2023
I was in a mid-level management role, something I had built from the ground up over five years. On paper, it was the definition of stability—good pay, great benefits, the whole shebang. But if you’re a Virgo, you know that external perfection means nothing if the internal mechanism is grating. I was getting the classic Virgo career itch: that feeling where things are 85% good, but the 15% that’s broken is all you can focus on. It was driving me nuts. I’d walk into the office, and the first thing I’d clock was the inefficiency, the shoddy communication, the half-baked ideas my team was being forced to push. It felt like I was constantly polishing a turd, and frankly, I was starting to smell like one.
That feeling was amplified because of all the Mars and Saturn movements they talked about in the astrology circles. I usually just roll my eyes at that stuff, but my actual experience mirrored the hype. I started planning my escape, not because I was suddenly brave, but because my stress levels were physically manifesting. I started losing sleep, and my stomach was a constant knot. The perfectionist side of me realized that staying was more damaging than the uncertainty of leaving.
The Practice: A Total Overhaul
This wasn’t a snap decision. I opened up a massive spreadsheet—you know, the classic Virgo move—and logged every job I looked at, every interview I booked, and a detailed pros and cons list for my current job versus potential futures. I spent three months gathering data, trying to analytically prove that leaving was the perfect move. It was exhaustive and probably wasted time, but I needed to eliminate doubt.
My first practical step? I updated my resume. But I didn’t stop there. I crafted three versions tailored to different industries—finance, tech, and non-profit—just in case. I started doing informational interviews, not looking for a job, but just poking around to see if the industry ‘smelled right.’ I was using my Virgo analysis to check the actual vibes, not just the job descriptions.
Here’s the messy part, the part they don’t share in motivational videos:
- I bombed my first three interviews. Total confidence crash. They asked me situational questions, and I over-analyzed everything and sounded like an anxious robot.
- I got completely ghosted by a company after five rounds of interviews. Literally—they stopped responding. I was sitting there, refreshing my inbox, feeling like a complete idiot who had wasted months.
- The financial stress was real. I pulled out my savings projections every week, recalculating if I could afford to quit before landing something new. I even took a small freelance gig just to keep the momentum going and feel productive.
It brought me back to a stressful time, just like when I had to leave my old gig years ago because everything went sideways with the boss and I was left scrambling for cash, feeling totally exposed. That memory fueled the fire; I swore I wouldn’t be caught flat-footed again.
The Realization: Letting Go of Perfect
I was about to hit my breaking point when my wife, bless her heart, slapped some sense into me. She pointed out that I was so focused on finding the perfect job, I was ignoring the good ones. That’s the Virgo curse, right? Waiting for the unicorn.
I shifted my strategy. I stopped looking for the “100% perfect fit.” I applied for a role that was only 70% what I wanted—a senior strategy position in a smaller, newer company. I told myself I could fix the other 30% once I was inside. During the final interview, I didn’t just answer their questions; I laid out their current problems, showing them exactly where my skill set would immediately fix their broken systems. I stopped being the anxious applicant and became the methodical problem-solver.
And guess what? They hired me on the spot.
I gave notice two weeks later, and the look on my old boss’s face was priceless, a mix of shock and total panic. I literally watched as the company started to unravel some of the systems I had held together—just like my old employer struggled to fill that role years back, proving my value the second I walked out the door. The move was hard, stressful, and messy, not clean. But I stepped into a role where my natural inclination to organize and optimize was finally appreciated, not just tolerated.
So, the takeaway for my fellow Virgos in 2023 who were thinking about making a leap? You had to accept the mess of the transition to achieve the stability of the destination. Don’t wait for the universe to hand you a perfect opportunity. You have to get in there and wrestle it to the ground.
