Finding the Dust-Covered Notebook: My 2020 Reckoning
Man, I swear 2020 feels like a lifetime ago. Everyone was just trying to survive, right? I was stuck in this job, feeling like my career had hit a wall made of cement and bad morale. I was desperate for a sign, anything that would tell me if I should jump ship or just keep grinding. That’s why I ended up looking up that damn August Pisces career horoscope.
I’m not usually one for star charts, but hey, when you’re drowning, you grab whatever floatation device is near. The horoscope was all fluffy and vague, talking about a “major structural change” and a “need to embrace disruptive technology.” I clung onto that phrase like it was gospel. I decided to interpret it aggressively. I didn’t wait for the universe to tap me on the shoulder; I manufactured the change.
The Execution: From Vague Prediction to Hard Goals
I pulled out an old, spiral-bound notebook—the kind you use for grocery lists and late-night scribbles—and I penned down three goals right there under the headline, “Pisces August 2020 Destiny.”
- Goal One: Pivot out of traditional finance and into SaaS product management by Q4 2021. (Massive shift, check.)
- Goal Two: Complete the Python certification I’d been putting off for two years. (Disruptive tech, check.)
- Goal Three: Double my consulting side income to match my main salary by 2023, guaranteeing financial stability. (Structural change, check.)
Looking back now, those goals were insane. I was working 60-hour weeks already. But that horoscope just gave me the permission I needed to stop waiting around. I marched into my boss’s office in September 2020 and handed over my resignation notice. People thought I was nuts to quit during that uncertain year, but I was focused on that “structural change.”
I spent the next few months living off savings and pure adrenaline. I attacked Goal Two first. I didn’t just dabble in Python; I lived and breathed those coding tutorials. I failed the first certification attempt. I cried over error messages. I picked myself up and passed on the second try in early 2021. Success! But guess what? The market shifted fast, and I realized nobody actually needed a half-baked Python certification. They needed experience.
The Messy Reality of Hitting Goals Sideways
Goal One—the pivot to SaaS Product Management—was a total disaster. I applied for dozens of roles. I interviewed poorly for most. I wasted thousands on a specialized bootcamp that promised insider access but delivered zero job offers. The truth is, I was trying to force a square peg into a round hole just because I thought the stars told me to. I burned out hard by mid-2021.
I stumbled into my current niche completely by accident. I was consulting for a tiny startup, just fixing their basic customer journey maps—something I picked up purely from my old finance days. They loved my no-nonsense, practical advice, the stuff you won’t find in textbooks. That’s when I realized my “disruptive technology” wasn’t Python; it was just me simplifying complex processes for non-tech companies.
I shifted my focus entirely. I launched this blog, started sharing my documentation, and focused all my energy on practical implementation guides—my current niche. This unexpected pivot is what eventually fueled Goal Three. By late 2022, my consulting and content revenue had easily surpassed my old corporate salary. I hit financial independence way earlier than I expected, but through a totally unforeseen business path.
Did the Horoscope Work Out? The 2024 Check-In
So, four years later, I finally dug up that dusty notebook. The one where I wrote down those destiny goals based on a vague online horoscope. I ran through the checklist:
- Goal One (Pivot to SaaS PM): Failed. I didn’t become a Product Manager. I became an independent consultant and content creator.
- Goal Two (Python Cert): Achieved. But utterly useless to my current career.
- Goal Three (Financial Independence by 2023): Achieved. But the path was entirely different from the plan.
Did the “august pisces career horoscope 2020” work out? Yeah, but not how it was written down. The horoscope was a lie, but the action it triggered was the truth. The stars didn’t pave the path; they just kicked my butt out the door. The moment I accepted that the initial plan wasn’t working, I began building the thing that actually did work. I stopped trying to force the destiny the prediction suggested and created my own, messy, successful path instead. The only thing that mattered was that I acted on the impulse, even if the interpretation was completely off base.
