Okay so back in September 2019, my Virgo self was feeling seriously stuck in my job. I mean, itchy to move up, you know? But everything felt… blocked. Like hitting a brick wall every time I tried to push forward. Needed to actually do something about this “luck” everyone talks about.
First thing I did? Totally old-school Virgo style. I grabbed a notebook. Not some fancy app, just pen and paper. I needed to see it all laid out. I called this step: “Mapping My Career Swamp”.
I sat down one Sunday afternoon, dumped everything out:
- The tasks I hated doing daily (ugh, endless reporting)
- Stuff I actually enjoyed and was good at (like fixing messy processes)
- Things I was avoiding because they scared me (public speaking, ugh)
- People I knew I should talk to but hadn’t (my VP, scary!)
Seeing it scribbled out was eye-opening. My “professional growth” wasn’t some big mystical thing; it was about tackling these small, concrete roadblocks.
September’s Action Plan: Baby Steps
I decided focusing on one small thing each week would feel less overwhelming.
- Week 1: Tackled the reporting slog. I blocked off two hours one Tuesday morning and forced myself to streamline those reports. Found a way to automate half of it using basic Excel stuff everyone forgets about. Huge win!
- Week 2: Faced the scary people thing. I literally stalked my calendar for an opening and just sent a calendar invite to my VP for a “15-min coffee chat, no agenda, just checking in.” Worst he could say was no. He said yes! Didn’t get a promotion, but he remembered that project I fixed last quarter.
- Week 3: The fear week. We had this tiny team meeting. Normally, I just listen. This time? I prepped one single point about the reporting fix I did. Practiced it in the shower (no joke). Said it. Didn’t faint. Nobody laughed. Felt amazing.
- Week 4: Did a mini-review. Asked myself: “What tiny step felt least terrible?” (The coffee chat!). Also looked at my initial swamp map. Crossed off reporting hell. Circled ‘talked to VP’. That felt like progress.
What Actually Shifted?
Did I unlock cosmic Virgo luck? Nah, not really. What I did unlock was a shift in my own approach.
- Got Noticed: By streamlining the reports, my manager actually commented on how much smoother things ran that month.
- Built a Tiny Bridge: That coffee chat? Opened the door for a real conversation with my VP later about the project I wanted to work on next.
- Stopped Being Invisible: Speaking up, even just once, meant people remembered I was in the room (and had ideas!).
It wasn’t magic. It was grinding through my own inertia, one tiny, deliberate, Virgo-approved step at a time. That September felt less like waiting for luck and more like finally grabbing the steering wheel, even if I was just nudging it a tiny bit. The growth? It came from that pushing.
