Back When Everything Just Felt Like It Was Spinning
Man, 2021 was a blur. Specifically, that September leading into October was just a total mess. I was juggling two big client projects, the kids were back-and-forth with school, and honestly, every single day I woke up feeling like I was walking into a wall. It was that classic “throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks” kind of vibe, except the spaghetti was my career and the wall was my sanity. I tried to schedule better. I tried to delegate more. Didn’t matter. Every meeting felt like a fight, every deadline was a scramble. I was working until midnight, then lying awake thinking about all the stuff I missed. The whole thing was just a big, chaotic crap show, and I was absolutely done with it.
I needed a different angle. I wasn’t getting anywhere doing the same old routine. I remember thinking, “There has to be a better way to time this stuff.” Because it felt like sometimes I’d put in 100 hours of effort and get nothing, and other times a quick email would land me a huge win. That’s what started me looking for patterns, anything, really, to simplify the noise.
Stumbling Across the October 2021 Virgo Stuff
It was one of those nights—3 AM, staring at the ceiling, then grabbing my phone. I didn’t search for “business strategy” or “time management.” I just typed in my sign and the month, and boom, this article popped up. The title was something like Virgo Monthly Horoscope October 2021: Key Dates to Watch Out For! I’m not some crystal-gazing guy, right? But the desperation was real. The article itself wasn’t flowery or vague; it pointed to three or four specific dates and gave them a theme: “Ideal for negotiations,” “High potential for miscommunication,” “Unexpected opportunities arrive.”
It was specific enough that my brain, which loves a good project, locked onto it. I decided right then I wasn’t going to believe it, but I was going to test it out. I grabbed a piece of scratch paper and copied down those key dates and the little one-line warning for each one. This wasn’t about fate; it was about seeing if I could use this as a weird, external schedule guide.
My Little Experiment: Putting the Dates to Work
I treated those dates like immovable anchor points. I literally moved my entire calendar around them. Here’s how I played it out:
- The Money Date (October 6th): The article flagged this as a prime time for money talks, especially anything related to contracts or pricing. I had been putting off a crucial conversation with a new, very demanding client about my project rate—I needed a hike. I had it scheduled for the 4th, but I instantly bumped it to the 6th. I went into that video call feeling more confident than usual, even a little smug about my secret strategy. I just laid out my new pricing structure, braced for the fight, and they said, “Yeah, that seems fair.” No pushback. Done. I closed my laptop and just stared at the wall for five minutes. That was the first marker.
- The Communication Minefield (October 18th): This date was marked with a very strong warning about words getting twisted, especially with family or close partners. I had a really important, stressful talk scheduled with my partner about a home renovation budget—a talk that had disaster written all over it anyway. I panicked. Instead of having the full blowout, I just sent a text that morning saying, “Hey, let’s just push the budget talk until Friday. I’m fried.” We spent the day quiet, had a simple dinner, and the talk the next day went super smooth. No drama. I avoided what felt like a guaranteed fight just by delaying 24 hours. The article told me to watch out, and I just watched and waited.
- The Big Decision Point (October 25th): The forecast said something about a “fast, unexpected resolution” regarding a long-term goal. For months, I’d been agonizing over whether to finally ditch a toxic side project that was draining my time for almost no money. That morning, I woke up, looked at the date, and just thought, “Today’s the day.” I fired off the termination email—scared, but following the map. Within an hour, I got an email from an old colleague offering me consultancy work that paid three times as much and was way less effort. An absolute perfect replacement, delivered the same morning I cut the cord. I didn’t even have time to feel stressed. I just signed and moved on.
Why I Kept That Screenshot
That October wasn’t perfect, nothing ever is. But it was the first month in a long time where I didn’t feel like I was running blind. By using that weird list of dates, I was forced to categorize and time my highest-effort tasks. I pushed the heavy lifts onto the “good” days and completely pulled back on the “bad” days. It reduced the mental load and stopped me from making stupid, unnecessary mistakes.
It wasn’t about believing that Jupiter alignment made the client say yes. It was about realizing that when I had a predetermined map—even a crazy one—I could focus my scattered energy and effort. I stopped wasting my best work on days when everything was going to be an uphill battle. The practice I took away wasn’t astronomy; it was just plain timing and strategy. I still have that screenshot buried in my phone, a reminder that sometimes the weirdest prompt can be the best tool for organizing a messy life. It absolutely simplified things.
I realized my whole life had been one giant, unplanned operation, and this goofy article was the first time I got a cheat sheet to organize the chaos I was drowning in. It got me to pause, look, and only then, finally, to jump.
