This Is The One Thing Each Zodiac Should Do Before Settling Down

ARIES: Learn how to compromise. 

You’re a go-getter in life and always set out to get exactly what you want. With drive and self-focus, you give your all to your various pursuits. In between all that, you strive for living life to the fullest, seizing every opportunity for spontaneity and adventure. In relationships, you refuse to give up certain things, such as your freedom, space, and self-interest. You’re direct about your needs but can be quick to dismiss your partner’s. Before settling down seriously with someone, you should develop better partnership skills. This includes learning that there are times you should set your individual needs aside and back down. You need to be more sensitive to the expectations and feelings of others. A relationship is about compromise. Compromising doesn’t mean sacrifice, Aries. It’s about finding a balance to keep each other feeling secure and happy.

TAURUS: Stop viewing your partners as possessions.

Your zodiac is linked to the second house of values and materials—you tend to view your lovers as possessions. In order for you to have a healthy future with someone, you’ve got to get your jealous and possessive behavior in check. A couple can be committed while individually practicing their own free will. Your sense of security gets triggered when your partner asks for space or exerts any kind of independence. Someone can be steady and a little unpredictable, too. Be more flexible, Taurus. You’re a little introverted and tend to hold your sweetie back a bit. It’s okay to let them have experiences without you. If you don’t want your life together to become stagnant, you should also push yourself outside your comfort zone. And remember, It’s okay to ask for extra validation when you need it. 

GEMINI: Make a good dent on your bucket list. 

You’ve got to get A LOT out of your system before even putting serious thought into committing to someone. You’re a mutable air sign—you tend to quickly dive into something only to later become hot and cold. Truthfully told, you’ve broken quite a few hearts out there, Gemini. Have the experiences you’ve always wanted before getting involved with someone’s emotions. Blame it on your curious mind—you get easily restless and bored in relationships. It’s why you tend to stir up drama with lovers. You’ll know when you meet the right person to settle down with because they’ll make you envision the big picture. Keep on having fun and keep the options open until then. 

CANCER: Let go of the past. 

You have built sky-high self-protective walls and have emotionally closed yourself off to romance, whether you realize it or not. It takes a long time for you to open up and be comfortable with someone, so it carries weight when you do. This is the main reason why you haven’t let go of old wounds. In order to get serious with someone, your sign needs to feel a deep emotional connection. You can’t have that until you let go of the past, Cancer. You may not like admitting it, but you spend a lot of time thinking about exes and feeling nostalgic over a different time. You can’t commit to someone if you’re still idealizing old relationships, which didn’t work out for good reason. To be truly present with another person, you have to be willing to let go of old heartbreak.

LEO: Seek fulfillment from within. 

Your pride and ego would never let you admit it, but you’re secretly insecure and sensitive to the criticism of others. Those qualities are amplified in romantic relationships. You’ve always sought validation through external sources—the spotlight, your professional or academic position, social media, and the compliments of others. You have a bad habit of letting your partner define your worth. You’re associated with the fifth house, which signifies matters of the heart. You love being in love—sometimes more than you love the other person, and even yourself. This pushes you to make unhealthy sacrifices and changes to make a relationship work…even when it’s not. No attention is better than attention from the wrong person. Once you learn to find the security you crave from within, you’d be surprised at how quickly you get over your fear of abandonment and the need for reassurance. 

VIRGO: Declutter your life. 

Your love language is acts of service, so you go above and beyond for the people you love. You can’t help but take care of everyone’s problems. The life you should be examining and working on is your own, Virgo. Before settling down, you need to declutter your life. This means expelling all negative and draining energy from it, including the people who only ever come around when they need something. You also need to let go of the past. You keep holding yourself back from taking things to a deeper level because you’re too busy overthinking what went wrong in your last relationship. Yes, it hurt to have fully trusted someone who didn’t stay, but until you let go of your old wounds, you’ll remain closed off. You have to set the garbage on the curb in order to make space for better things. 

LIBRA: Learn to embrace solitude.

You’re ruled by Venus, the planet of love, and addicted to all things romantic. Libra, you’re rarely ever single. You truly enjoy the nuances of romance and dating. Your sign is also associated with partnership—you’ll do everything to make a relationship work. Unfortunately, a lot of the time this means prioritizing your significant other over your own needs. You often said yes when you meant no, stayed quiet when you should have stood up for yourself, and let your ex make decisions for you. In order to avoid overidealizing a relationship and losing sight of yourself again, you need to spend some time alone. It’s the only way you will regain confidence in who you are. Growing and learning as an individual will push you to be more assertive in expressing your feelings and emotional needs. Once you know how to be happy in your own company, you will let go of the need to win the approval of others. When you can set better boundaries, you attract better lovers. 

SCORPIO: Break your worst habits.

You’re ruled by Pluto, the god of the underworld, and walk a shadowy terrain. There’s a romance between you and darkness. Your sign is associated with death and transformation—you live life in extremes. This is why you’re prone to charged highs and dysfunctional lows. Your innate need to push limits can lead you to self-destructive behaviors. The constant need you have for metaphorical death and rebirth is to blame for most of your bad habits. You’ve got to break them all before settling down—the recklessness, masochism, self-medicating, and experiences that undo and destroy you. Another thing you need to get in check is your inability to let go of control. If you want truly rewarding love, you have to put some serious work into keeping your insecurities, jealousies, and trust issues in check. Most importantly, know how to love and respect yourself enough not to put your physical, mental, and emotional well-being at risk.  

SAGITTARIUS: Take the trip of your dreams…alone.

Sag, you’re a mutable sign who thrives on independence and freedom. Symbolized by the archer, you’ve got a restless need to expand your horizons. You’re constantly driven to learn and have new experiences—you want to be challenged to look at the world differently. Before your next serious relationship, you should consider taking the solo trip of your dreams. Pull out all the stops, Sag. It will help keep you from feeling stifled the next time you commit yourself to someone. You’ve got the kind of mind that’s always searching for the meaning of life, even in the most unexpected of places. Get a lot of traveling out of your system, take risks, and embrace spontaneity. Making those dreams come true before meeting your love will help you build a stronger foundation. 

CAPRICORN: Get to a comfortable place in your career. 

Your sign corresponds to the tenth house, which is all about career and status, and you’re also ruled by strict Saturn. Success means a lot to you and you will do everything in your power to achieve it. So, you tend to place your ambitions over love. Before settling down with someone, you should get to a place where you feel comfortable in your career. This doesn’t mean you have to get to where you ultimately envision yourself, just far enough ahead for you to be able to have a healthy work-life balance. You’re always thinking about what comes next and of ways to better yourself. Getting to a more stable or desirable place will help you prioritize the needs of a partner over your professional responsibilities in the future. It will also attract a like-minded lover with the same inner drive to succeed.

AQUARIUS: Allow yourself to be truly vulnerable.

Aquarius, you’re always cool, collected, and calm. You tend to give off the vibe of sitting on a throne of ice. People think that you’re emotionally detached, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. You come off as aloof because you’re constantly inside your head. In a way, you expect others to know what you’re feeling or thinking—a huge problem in serious relationships. Before settling down, you should allow yourself to be truly vulnerable. Expressing emotion and being able to tap into your partner’s is a crucial part of becoming close to someone. Instead of applying so much logic to love and killing the magic, go with the flow of your feelings. It’s okay if it takes you a while to open up, as long as you’re willing to ultimately expose yourself. It will make it easier to have important conversations down the road, like when you ask for space and establish boundaries with your significant other. 

PISCES: Learn how to set and enforce emotional boundaries. 

Pisces, you’re a hopeless romantic. Your sign is ruled by dreamy Neptune, the planet of inspiration and dreams—it’s easy for you to get lost in fantasyland. You have a bad tendency of overidealizing relationships and partners. You don’t know how to give yourself reality checks in relationships, and even ignore when someone is mistreating you. You’re highly intuitive and able to pick up on your partner’s subtle desires. Sometimes you change who you are as a person to keep someone else happy, but you struggle with being vocal about your own feelings. This is because you don’t know how to tell where your partner ends and you begin. Before getting serious with someone, you need to learn to set and enforce emotional boundaries. This will strengthen the communication in your relationship and ensure you don’t fall into another codependent situation.