General Characteristics of a Rat

The Rat is intelligent, hardworking and competitive. By wanting to achieve his goals as fast as possible, he will always use his wily ways to cut corners and find the way of least resistance, calling this “efficiency”.

He is gregarious, fun-loving and amiable to all. However, there is another side to the Rat which is very private and he keeps his innermost thoughts to himself. The Rat doesn’t trust easily and needs constant assurance as he can be insecure. However, those who work hard to enter the Rat’s inner sanctuary will be assured of a loving and loyal friend.

Strengths

The Rat is independent and intelligent, inquisitive and indomitable! His hardworking and competitive nature leads him to be successful in whatever work he chooses and his curiosity will ensure that he knows what is going on at any time. He can be very particular and organized and expects the same from others.

The Rat also is the perfect opportunist, able to accurately spot occasions where he can act to his advantage. His speed and natural nimbleness will stand him in good stead when this happens.

The outgoing, charming and sociable Rat draws people around him easily. He is very hospitable and will always welcome anyone who needs help, but do be prepared to do something in return. The Rat does not put up with freeloaders and fully expects people to pull their weight.

The Rat may be chatty and curious but he is generally reserved and doesn’t confide easily in others. He also has a big ego and needs constant acknowledgement of his capabilities and achievements.

The Rat is a super Houdini, always ready with an escape plan in any situation. As soon as his alarm bells go off, he’s out of there in a flash. Rats generally have a good instinct; this intuitiveness is one of his best assets, and keeps him well on top of his game and out of trouble.

Weaknesses

One of the Rat’s greatest failings is his fickleness. Whether it is in business or choosing his lunch at McDonald’s, the Rat labours over making the simplest decisions, then changes his mind 30 seconds after he has made it. He can also tend to over-commit, biting off more than he can chew and then not delivering.

The Rat can also be thrifty to a fault. If you ask him to lend you some money, he will probably say yes but don’t be surprised if he charges you interest!

Although the Rat is talkative and expressive, the Rat doesn’t communicate his deeper thoughts well and when upset, he will be evasive and simply say nothing is wrong. It can be frustrating trying to deduce how the Rat is really feeling.

Being the perfectionist that he is and with the large ego he carries, the Rat can be very critical and vocal about it too. This leads people to become wary about the Rat’s sharp tongue. The Rat enjoys a bit of gossip and can be picky over petty things, but in general, the Rat has no malicious intent.

Career and Working Life

In a corporation, the Rat can relate well to people and works well in a team. He will always be concerned about the well being of his colleagues which ensures a happy working team.

The keen and quick mind of the Rat likes debating and intellectual pursuits and he would thrive in the legal profession. As an adaptable, tough little creature, he will work well in many diverse environments and can be a good multi-tasker, keeping an eye on both the work at hand as well as the people involved. It will be hard to pull a fast one over the smart, quick Rat.

Love and Relationships

The Rat is a passionate creature and will have many admirers. The secret of a successful partnership with a Rat is ensuring that it is based on a solid friendship. Once he commits, he will treat his partner well. He can be possessive though, which stems from insecurity. Assure him that he is important to you and that you will stick by him and the Rat will be devoted to you.

Although the Rat doesn’t look like it on the surface, he is actually quite sentimental. He gets deeply attached to his loved ones and his family and will be responsible for them. He trusts his parents and appreciates them so he will happily look after his parents in their old age.

Finances

The Rat is very contradictory in financial matters. On the one hand, he is very thrifty to the point of stinginess. He can make sure that his budgets are kept and makes sure that he has a nest egg for a rainy day.

On the other hand, while he is good at making money, he is not necessarily good at keeping what he earns. He will buy items to satisfy a whim – not necessarily luxurious items but whatever holds the Rat’s interest at the time, which may not be very practical. Buying a snowboard when he lives in India or a bikini in Alaska would not seem strange to the Rat at all. He just has to have it at that time!

Social Life

The Rat is popular, fun loving and gets on well with most people. He has a good sense of humour and is often the life and soul of any party. When he meets new people, he is the first to put people at ease with his warm, affable nature. Some Rats may have an air of aloofness about them, not being one to put their hearts on their sleeves, but it’s usually because they are just shy. They are actually friendly and kind once you get to know them.

However, while from the outside it looks like the Rat has many friends, they are more like acquaintances. The Rat has only a handful of friends he really trusts and bares his soul to.

Life Lessons

The Rat must learn to communicate better with the people around him. If he can be more open to trust people, he may gain more from the friendships that he already makes so easily.

The Rat needs to learn to be more decisive and to stick to the decision once it is made. If he can persevere and complete what he has said he will, the Rat will be wildly successful.

If the Rat can be more patient and less critical, he will be less stressed. He also has to learn that having high expectations from those who will never live up to them will only result in disappointment. Once the Rat learns how to have realistic expectations, the Rat will be much happier.

COMPATIBILITY

Who will the Rat share his cheese with?

The Rat gets on like a house on fire with the Monkey and the Dragon. These three form a harmonious trio based on their dynamism and high intellect. Always full of initiative and innovation, these three are on the same wavelength to get things done as fast as possible.

The Rat and Monkey are a particularly compatible couple. Both highly intelligent and active, they share the same outlook on life and the same values. They have the same fun loving personalities which will make them cruise through life with laughter.

The Rat also gets on well with the Ox. Somehow, these two characters are quite different in nature, the Ox’s solid, unwavering stability will complement the shifty, fast-acting, adaptable rat.

Who will the Rat nip?

The Rat doesn’t get along with the Horse. Communications will be awry and these two simply have completely different goals. The Horse does not understand why the Rat is so calculative and petty, and the Rat will not tolerate the Horse’s disorganized impulsiveness.

The Rat and the Rooster also tend to be at loggerheads because both are not willing to give in to each other. They are both perfectionists and will have high expectations for each other that can never be met. Relationships between these two are best kept cordial and at a distance.

How to work with a Rat

Give the Rat as much information as possible so he can assess any situation well and come up with solutions. Be clear, efficient and detailed – there is nothing the efficient Rat dislikes more than sloppiness.

On a personal level, be open and honest with the Rat so that he can learn to trust you. Never betray him because once the trust is lost, it is difficult for him to trust you again.

The Rat hates being told what to do or being looked down upon, so be careful how you communicate with him and make sure his fragile ego is not bruised. The Rat is also sensitive to criticism and works best when given respect, support, assurance and care, so pile on the love and the Rat will happily perform to his best.

5 Positive and Negative Traits

Famous Rats

Louis Armstrong, Michael Chang, Tei-Fu Chen, John Cho, Steven Chu, Scott Oki, Hiro Yamagata, Alan Alda, Dave Allen, Ursula Andress, Charles Aznavour, Lauren Bacall, Shirley Bassey, Jeremy Beadle, Kenneth Branagh, Marlon Brando, Charlotte Bronte, Chris de Burgh, George Bush, Jimmy Carter, Dick Cavett, Maurice Chevalier, Doris Day, Barbara Dickson, Noel Edmonds, Ben Elton, Albert Finney, Clark Gable, Hugh Grant, Glenda Jackson, Al Gore, Thomas Hardy, Mata Hari, Vaclav Havel, Charlton Heston, Dennis Hopper, Englebert Humperdinck, Jeremy Irons, Glenda Jackson, Jean-Michel Jarre, Gene Kelly, Kimura Takuya, Kris Kristofferson, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, Lulu, Olivia Newton-John, Richard Nixon, Sean Penn, The Queen Mother, Vanessa Redgrave, Burt Reynolds, Jonathon Ross, Emma Samms, William Shakespeare, Tommy Steele, Donna Summer, Spencer Tracey, the Price of Wales, George Washington, Dennis Waterman, Kim Wilde, the Duke of York, Ahn Jae-Hwan

Other Lunar Animal Signs

1. I am the Ox

2. I am the Tiger

3. I am the Rabbit

4. I am the Dragon

5. I am the Snake

6. I am the Horse

7. I am the Sheep

8. I am the Monkey

9. I am the Rooster

10. I am the Dog

11. I am the Pig

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