Write your own 2021/2022 horoscope

Hey guys,

I have a wonderful idea to share with you today, if I do say so myself.

This evening Honesty Lab’s John Rosania’s Existential Yearly Review landed in my inbox. (Definitely subscribe to his newsletter - he’s a brilliant Radical Honesty trainer, trauma-informed counselor and all around good guy.) In his typical thorough way, he put 5 years into developing a system for reviewing your year and planning the next - from an existential perspective. Cause why are we here, doing all this stuff anyway?

To say the least, he inspired me, as usual. So I set about the task of embarking on my 2021 Existential Yearly Review.

Well, being daunted by the first two steps, I skipped to task 3, the most interesting for me. I started combing through my 2021 calendar and taking notes of what I found there. And in the process of doing John’s yearly review, which I admit, might be just a tad too thorough for me to complete, I stumbled upon my own way of reviewing the old and getting ready for the new year.

Write your own horoscope

Bear with me for a moment. I’ve always been an astrology nerd. No, not someone who hard-core believes in astrology, zodiac signs and horoscopes. I get that 99% of that stuff is bullshit.

But I am the kind of astrology nerd who loves reading about star signs for fun, finding astrology books from the 70’s in thrift stores, turning pages in my worn out copies of Sextrology and Cosmic Coupling alone on a Saturday night. As a person who always strives to understand people, and who has a soft spot for the mysterious, astrology has always just been my thing.

So anyways, in the past I’ve sometimes made the habit of doing the following: after a year comes to an end, I look up my yearly horoscope for the completed year. I read it and compare my year to the predictions according to my zodiac sign. Sometimes, they’ve been spot on, sometimes (unsurprisingly) miss. Then I read my yearly horoscope for the year ahead, resigned to the fact that I’ll have to wait until the next year is over to see if my fortune actually came true.

But what if we could write our own horoscope?

No, not as some wannabe astrologer or fortune teller. Not as a person claiming to read the stars. But perhaps, as a person who believes that with your own will, intention, action and creative power, you might just be able to create the kind of year you want to experience? A person who’s ready to take their destiny into their own hands? I make myself excited about this idea!

Part 1: Retrospective Horoscope - Looking back on the past year

So to start writing your own 2021/2022 horoscope, begin by looking back on the past year. Think about what happened in each of the major areas of your life below:

• Health

• Money & Finance

• Work & Career

• Love

• Family & Friendships

Or simply: review your calendar, photos, journal, and anything else that will give you a hint of what you did this past year. Start making a list of the notable things. Who did you work for? What kind of projects or courses did you do? Who did you spend your time with? What are you proud of? What did you struggle with? Write down a list of anything that seems significant, that you want to remember later on, like when you’re old(er). Then you can categorize each event according to the 5 areas of life above. Maybe you have even more areas you want to add. Go for it. I also added, ‘Body, Appearance & Style’ and ‘Education & Training’ to mine since these were also significant areas of my life this year.

Once you have some notes/bullet point for each section, write up a clever paragraph about each area of your life in the previous year, as if you’re writing a retrospective yearly horoscope for yourself. Here’s an example from my own:

Health 

I was not sick at all in 2021 (the last time I remember being sick was Oct 2020). Maybe due to all the masks everyone was wearing and the lockdowns, this being the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic. On Dec 30, I got my first Pfizer/Biontech COVID-19 vaccine, even though I had been somewhat resistant to getting one for a long time. I didn’t have any negative reaction.

I continued smoking nearly every day in 2021. Because of this, 2021 was probably one of my least physically active years. My main mode of transportation was walking. Besides walking I also danced a lot this year.

I ate quite healthy in 2021, eating vegetables from my community garden plot…

Work 

Self-employment: In 2021 I achieved a major goal of mine; become a freelancer/self-employed! I began receiving my first payments from Honesty Europe as a client and started paying taxes as a freelancer. I became one step closer to realizing a dream I’ve had for a while now of being an international freelancer.

Tractive: Besides that, 2021 saw the end of my career as a Customer Happiness Manager when I was officially promoted to the Marketing team at Tractive - I became the sole Blog Manager and really enjoy my work now.

Radical Honesty: By the end of 2021, I was closer than ever to becoming a certified Radical Honesty trainer. In December I held my first paid Radical Honesty gig, the Radical Honesty Open Day in Linz!

So that’s just a little snapshot of my 2021 yearly review aka retrospective horoscope. I like highlighting key words in bold to help make the important things stand out.

Part 2: Horoscope 2022 - Looking at the year ahead

The next step in writing your own horoscope is to begin with a blank slate looking at the year ahead of you.

On a blank piece of paper or doc, write down those major areas of life: Work, Love, Money, Family, etc. Then get busy writing down what you’d like to make happen or experience in those key areas. Here’s an example from my own:

Physical & Mental Health

2022 will be a year of good health for you Chelsea! 

In January, you start a daily morning movement/exercise practice that does wonders for your health and physical fitness this year. You have the discipline and motivation to keep it up for the entire year. Friends start to notice your new healthier physique and ask if you’ve been working out.

This is the year you stop smoking cigarettes for good!  

Your mental health is well this year. After being burdened with anxiety, anger and frustration regarding your breakup and attachment issues, this year you learn to let these things go and find healthy distractions to help you create the life you want, rather than reliving the past. You have worked through much of your trauma and are actively taking good care of yourself.

At the end of the year, you can look back at your own horoscope - and see which of your plans, dreams, intentions and visions came true!

And did you know? By writing down your goals, you are 42% more likely to achieve them! So why not start right now with your 2022 Yearly Horoscope? 😉

I hope this was helpful and inspiring to you in some way. If so, will you let me know by leaving a comment here on Substack? I’m also open to other reactions! 😁

Cheers and Happy Honest New Year,
Chelsea