Man, 2022 felt like a real turning point for me, especially with work. You know how sometimes you just feel it in your gut? That something’s gotta give? Well, that was me, a complete Pisces through and through, swimming in circles with my career path. I’d been at the same gig for years, just chugging along, pretty comfortable, but deep down, a bit bored. Like, really bored. That whole “unlock your work potential” thing? It sounded like a nice dream, but I had no idea how to even start.
I started off 2022 just feeling this heavy cloud. Every morning, dragging myself to the office (or, let’s be real, to my home office desk), it just felt… flat. I remember reading some of those horoscope bits, not really believing them, but kinda hoping for a sign, you know? And it kept saying stuff about Pisces needing change, needing to find something more fulfilling, that a big shift was coming. I was like, “Yeah, sure, easy for you to say.” But it got me thinking. What was I actually doing?
My first move was just to observe. I started really paying attention to what parts of my job I actually enjoyed, and which ones felt like pulling teeth. Turns out, it was mostly the people interaction, the brainstorming sessions. The actual number-crunching and report-writing? Absolute nightmare. So, I grabbed a little notebook – yeah, old school, I know – and just started jotting down everything. What made me perk up, what made me dread the clock hitting 9 AM.
Then, I decided to talk it out. Not with my boss, definitely not yet. I went to a buddy who’d made a big career switch a few years back. He’s an Aquarius, full of crazy ideas, always pushing boundaries. We met for beers, and I just laid it all out. “Man, I feel stuck. Like, really stuck. My horoscope says I need to ‘unlock potential,’ whatever that means. What did you do?” He just listened, nodded, and then hit me with some tough love. “You gotta figure out what you actually want to do, not just what you can do.”
That really hit me. What did I want? That was the big question. So, I started researching like crazy. I wasn’t just looking at job boards. I was looking at industries, at skill sets, at what problems people were solving out there. I used to mess around with some design stuff in college, just for fun, making little logos and stuff. I never thought it could be a real job. But the more I looked, the more I saw how much people needed good, clear design, especially for online stuff.
This led me to take some online courses. I signed up for a basic graphic design one, then another on UI/UX. It wasn’t cheap, and it meant spending my evenings and weekends staring at a screen after my day job. My eyes were burning, my brain was fried. There were moments I wanted to just chuck my laptop across the room and give up. “What am I even doing? This is just a waste of time and money!” I’d grumble to myself. But then I’d finish a module, create something I actually liked, and that little spark would ignite again.
My strategy then shifted to building a portfolio. This was probably the hardest part. I didn’t have any real-world projects. So, I started doing mock projects. Re-designing websites for local coffee shops that had terrible ones. Creating fictional branding for made-up companies. It felt a bit silly, honestly, but it was giving me something to show for all that learning. I remember spending hours just tweaking one tiny little button on a fake website, trying to make it perfect.
The Big Leap (and the scary part)
By late 2022, I felt like I had enough. Enough learning, enough practice, enough courage. That horoscope about Pisces needing a big change? It was ringing louder in my ears. I started applying for junior design roles. And man, the rejections! So many “Thanks but no thanks” emails. It was a real punch to the gut every single time. Doubts crept in, big time. Was I just kidding myself? Should I just stick to the safe, boring job?
But something in me just wouldn’t let go. I kept going, refining my resume, tweaking my portfolio after every rejection, trying to see where I could improve. I even reached out to a few people on LinkedIn who were doing what I wanted to do, just asking for advice. Most didn’t reply, but a couple did, and their insights were gold. They told me to focus on showing my process, not just the final product. That was a game changer.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I got an interview. A tiny startup, a bit chaotic, but the energy was great. They saw something in my portfolio, even though it was mostly personal projects. They liked my enthusiasm, maybe. I think I talked their ears off about my passion for solving problems through design. They took a chance on me, and I took the offer. It was a pay cut, a significant one, but it felt right. My gut, the old Pisces intuition, screamed YES.
Leaving my old job felt like ripping off a band-aid. Scary as hell. My family thought I was nuts, giving up security for some “artsy fartsy” job at a startup. But once I landed in the new place, it was like a breath of fresh air. Every day was a challenge, sure, but it was also exciting. I was actually creating things, solving real user problems, and seeing my designs come to life. The hours were long, sometimes longer than before, but I wasn’t dragging my feet anymore.
Looking back, that whole “Navigating horoscope Pisces career 2022” thing, it really did become my reality. I didn’t consciously follow a star chart, but the feelings it described, the need for change and fulfillment, they were spot on. I went from being comfortably stuck to actively building something new. It wasn’t easy, not by a long shot. It involved a lot of self-doubt, a lot of late nights, and a lot of courage to just jump. But walking through that fear, making those moves, step by step, that’s really how I unlocked whatever potential was hiding there. It wasn’t magic; it was just plain hard work, fueled by a feeling that I needed something different.
