Mercury enters Aquarius tonight; with the planet of thought and communication in the most unconventional of the signs, it’s time to start thinking outside the box. The world is changing fast, and your old problem-solving tactics might no longer be up to the task. Today, try to stop dreaming of the past and start actively planning for the future instead. New challenges await you, but new possibilities do, too.

Most of the time, it pays to listen to common sense — why make things more complicated than necessary? But there are also situations where this approach doesn’t work. Just because most people believe something, that doesn’t necessarily make it true. The intuitive answer might not be the right one. Today, keep an open mind to the ideas that initially strike you as strange, even silly. When nothing in the world seems to make sense, sometimes you need to employ equally unconventional strategies.

It can feel like you’re always waiting for somebody else to recognize what’s special in you, to affirm that you have something uniquely important to offer. But today, it’s time to stop waiting around for others to recognize what you already know about yourself. You don’t need anybody else’s permission to believe that you’re smart or interesting, or to trust that your insights have value, or to carry yourself like you matter. External validation is nice, but don’t let it be the thing that makes or breaks your self-confidence.

When you’re looking for life advice, it’s often wise to seek out your most sensible, even-keeled friends. Today, however, it’s important not to play it too safe. Make sure that you’re also seeking advice from your weirdest, most creative, even your messiest friends. You don’t have to do what they say, necessarily, but their perspectives will prove valuable. They can remind you that there’s more than one way to live a fulfilling life, and that sometimes risks are worthwhile.

While some people seem to need everything spelled out for them, you tend to be good at making inferences, picking up on other people’s unspoken emotions, reading the room. But today, don’t underestimate the power of being direct. Give yourself a break from deciphering subtleties and sorting through layers of nuance. Instead of trying to intuit how a friend is feeling, or using context clues to piece together a complicated social situation, see what happens if you just ask.

Usually, you’re at ease in a crowd — you know how to command attention and work a room, so you run no risk of being overlooked or fading into the background. Today, however, all that might feel like a lot of work. You’re tired of having to raise your voice to be heard; you want conversations where you can relax, where you don’t have to put on a big performance. So for now, stop fighting for attention: One-on-one interactions are where you’ll shine.

You put a lot of pressure on yourself not to make any mistakes. At work, you want to complete tasks perfectly the first time; in your personal life, it can feel even more imperative to get everything right. But while it’s useful to have high standards, at a certain point you’re simply asking too much of yourself. Today, try to silence your perfectionism. Take risks, throw yourself into unfamiliar experiences, allow yourself to make mistakes. You won’t be successful in every venture, and that’s the point — it’s the only way to grow.

It can be tempting to judge the validity of your ideas based on how many people agree with you, or to assess the worthiness of your work based on whether or not it’s popular. But today, remember that popular opinion isn’t always right. Get feedback from others, but pay attention to your own instincts, too. Sometimes, doing work that’s truly meaningful to you, work you can be proud of, requires you to risk being misunderstood by others. Resist the urge to assimilate; stay true to your own vision.

You’re not the type of person to view your relationships with self-interest; you care about people for who they are, not what they can do for you. But today, it might help to take stock of your closest relationships with a bit more objectivity. The people in your circle should, on balance, make your life easier or at least more interesting. You shouldn’t feel like they always take without giving you anything back — and if you do feel that way, think about what needs to change.

Your mind is probably firing on all cylinders today. You’re curious and alert, and everywhere you go you’re likely to meet new people, learn new information, and draw up new plans for the future. Right now, your challenge isn’t in coming up with good ideas — you’ve got plenty — but in narrowing your ambitions down to a manageable scale. You’re only one person, and you can’t follow through on everything, so try to prioritize. Put your energy into just a couple projects or a single goal that matters most.

It’s easy enough to find reasons not to act in accordance with your values: You tell yourself that it’s too difficult, that you don’t have the time, or that nobody else seems to worry about being a good person, so why should you? But no matter how much these excuses seem to make logical sense, you still end up disappointed in yourself when you avoid doing what you know is right. So today, stop trying to talk yourself out of following through on your principles. You’ll feel better if you stick by your convictions, no matter how hard or inconvenient it is.

While you’re not a meek or passive person, you also understand that it’s not worth making a fuss over every tiny thing that bothers you. A lot of the time, little frustrations go away on their own, and dwelling on them would only waste everyone’s time. But today, don’t wait around for problems to fix themselves — now is the time to be proactive. People can’t read your mind, and some issues will get worse with time, not better.

You feel everything deeply, which means that you’re excellent at empathizing with others. Sometimes, though, it also means that you get swept away by your own emotions: You convince yourself that whatever stress or pain you’re feeling now is insurmountable. Today, though, it might be possible to find a little critical distance. Your feelings are real, but they don’t define you. You’ve felt bad before, and it wasn’t the end of the world — you’ll get through this, too.

Buy Claire Comstock-Gay’s book, Madame Clairevoyant’s Guide to the Stars, here.