You’re still feeling the energy of Saturday night’s new moon in Sagittarius as the week kicks off, so if you’re yearning for a bigger, more adventurous, or more purposeful life, you still have time to set new intentions and make them stick. Then Mars retrograde begins on Friday evening: From now until February, as the planet of action moves backward through Leo, you might find it harder than usual to bring your plans to fruition, as something always seems to get in the way. Try to temper your expectations of yourself and don’t rush. Early Saturday morning, Venus enters Aquarius, where it’ll stay until the new year. Use this time to think about what you really want from your relationships. Don’t be afraid to break from tradition if that’s what you need.

Sometimes, your motivation abandons you and you have to slog through your days with nothing but discipline and routine to keep you going. All that work and perseverance will seem worth it this week: You’ve made it to the other side, and your joy and inspiration are finally returning. It’s wonderful to feel excited, but it will also be easy to overcommit to new activities, set overly ambitious goals, or push yourself too hard and end up feeling burned out and unmotivated all over again. Make the most of your passion, but pace yourself.

There are so many cruel people and bad actors in the world, and you’re sick of it; you’re ready to step in and protect the people in your life and community. You might feel driven to care for those you care about this week, but remember that some of them don’t actually need that from you. Maybe they need your friendship, maybe they need you to listen, or maybe they need to be left alone for a bit. If you want to help others, ask what they need most. It might not be what you think.

You’re brimming with energy this week, and it’s making you impatient. You’re eager to get through the dull busywork so that you can get to the fun stuff: the projects you truly care about, the big and important battles, the life-changing moments. But the more you try to rush, the less satisfied you’ll feel. The “boring” tasks aren’t any less worthy of your time than the exciting ones. Dull or thrilling, they’re all the building blocks of your life, and they’re all worth doing well.

It’s hard to figure out what you really need in life. You’re constantly bombarded by voices telling you to be satisfied with mere crumbs — or, on the other side, telling you that you deserve to have every tiny whim satisfied. It’s up to you to figure out where the truth lies this week. What do you actually need to live a full and satisfying life? What are you willing to give up, and where will you put your foot down and refuse to give another inch? Nobody else can tell you what’s “enough” for you.

You’ve learned that you can’t always rely on others to stand up for you: Your friends will do their best, but sometimes they’re not around. It’s up to you to advocate for yourself, so you’ve learned how to fight and push back when you’re being treated poorly. But this week, you might be so sensitive that practically everything feels like a personal attack, and you’re constantly leaping to defend yourself. Try to be thoughtful in determining who deserves your fire. You can’t fight every battle; focus on the ones that count.

Although you’re thoughtful and observant, you also tend to be pretty action-oriented. It’s not enough just to notice a problem; you want to do something about it. If you have an idea, you want to start envisioning how you can make it happen. It’s good not to get stuck perpetually in the thinking phase, but sometimes, it helps to slow down and not leap right into action. Give yourself time to dream without worrying about practicalities. There will be time later to plan; this week, give yourself space to luxuriate in the possibilities.

You’re sick of feeling like you’re always reacting to what other people do, always caught off-guard and scrambling to respond. You try to plan everything three moves ahead, to anticipate what everyone else will do and be ready for it. In theory, it’s a great strategy, but in practice, it’s easy to get too far ahead of yourself. You can’t predict exactly what’s going to happen next, so don’t stress too much about planning this week. Leave yourself room to adjust, and trust that you’ll think on your feet.

You’re happy to lift up the people around you, to shout their achievements from the rooftops, but promoting your work is a bigger challenge. You want everyone to know how much you’ve contributed, but you don’t want to have to tell them; calling attention to your own accomplishments seems distasteful. There’s a good chance your hard work will be overlooked unless you actively demand the recognition you deserve this week, though. Don’t shove everyone else aside in your own bid for attention, but don’t be shy about speaking up, either.

You think deeply about the world around you, and most of the time, the conclusions you draw are solid. But nobody’s right all the time, and the smartest thing you can do is stay open to the possibility that you might have made a mistake. New information might change your thinking this week; the world might prove more complicated than you thought, people might surprise you. The more you stubbornly cling to old ideas, the more problems you might create for yourself. Stay committed to learning, and remember there’s no shame in changing your mind.

It’s helpful to be clear about what you want, and to make actionable plans for how you’ll get it – but this week it’s easy to overthink it. Being so specific in your ideas may make you struggle to adapt to any surprises that come up. The more you try to force things to go your way, the more frustrated you’ll get. If you can approach the world with curiosity and open-mindedness, and not try to control other people, you’ll be more likely to get what you want in the end.

You’ve been more vigilant than ever about not letting problems simmer of late; you might not exactly enjoy confrontation, but you’d rather hash things out right away than let your small frustrations fester into resentment. Remember that you don’t need to tackle every tiny problem right away. Sometimes it’s important to speak up, and other times, you’re only in a bad mood that will blow over soon. It’s up to you to figure out what needs to be addressed, and what you can let lie.

You’re hyperaware of the problems all around you, and instead of sitting idly by, you want to take action this week. You’re full of energy and ideas, and you’re ready to put them to use. The trouble is that it’s easy to accidentally step on toes right now, to meddle, to inadvertently make things harder than they need to be. Try to go slow — it isn’t a sprint. You won’t fix the world in a single day, so don’t rush and find a way to act that’s sustainable.

Read the weekly horoscopes for the week of November 24th. The weekly horoscopes for the week of December 8th will be online next Sunday.

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