part 4: Three Types of Hard Workers Walk Into Your Life: The Rat, The Ox, and The Rooster (And Why They Drive Each Other Crazy)
Here’s something funny I realized recently: if you pay attention to the people around you, you’ll notice that some of the most successful people you know all seem to work really hard. But—and this is the hilarious part—they’re all working hard in completely different ways. It’s like they got the same memo (“Be hardworking”), but they all read it differently.
There’s a great story I learned about North Korea. It turns out that one of the biggest holidays there—Kim Il Sung’s birthday—falls on a Rat year. A Rat. Which makes sense when you think about it. A Rat is always looking for opportunity, always scanning, always thinking three steps ahead. Of course a Rat would build an empire. That’s what Rats do.
Then I looked around at the people closest to me, and I noticed a pattern. My father is a Rooster. My best friend? Also a Rooster. And watching them over the years, I’ve noticed something remarkable: Roosters have this natural leadership thing happening. They don’t seem to need permission to lead. They just… lead. It’s like they were born with a megaphone and an unshakeable confidence.
And then there’s the Ox. Somewhere in that quiet, steady energy is where fortunes get built. Not flashy fortunes. Real fortunes. The kind that last because they were built piece by piece, brick by brick, day after day.
Today, I want to talk about these three—the Rat, the Ox, and the Rooster—because if you know one of each, you’re watching three different versions of what it means to be successful. And trust me, it’s way more entertaining than you’d think.
The Rat: The One Who Sees Opportunity Before Anyone Else
Let me start with the Rat, because the Rat is wild.
If you’ve ever known a Rat person—really known them—you’ve probably noticed something. They seem to make money. Not always a lot of it, but they seem to understand how money works in a way that other people just… don’t. It’s not magic. It’s something else.
A Rat’s brain works like this: while everyone else is looking at what’s in front of them, the Rat is already three moves ahead, scanning for what could be. Where’s the opportunity? Where’s the inefficiency? Where’s the thing nobody else noticed yet? And the moment they spot it, they move. They don’t hesitate. They don’t ask for permission. They just go.
This is why Rats are brilliant in finance, investments, business strategy. They understand what most people never figure out: that money isn’t just about having it. It’s about seeing where it needs to go and moving fast enough to get there before someone else does.
But here’s the thing that makes the Rat funny: they’re always calculating. Always. Even when you’re just chatting with them over coffee, their brain is doing math. They’re noticing the inefficiency in how the coffee shop runs. They’re thinking about the real estate value of the location. They’re mentally redesigning the system to be faster and cheaper. It’s like their brain just doesn’t turn off.
The Rat likes certain things and absolutely hates others. They love anything related to efficiency. A tool that saves time? The Rat is fascinated. A system that wastes money? The Rat gets visibly annoyed. They love trends because trends are money opportunities. They love being recognized for their quick thinking because that’s their superpower, and being acknowledged for your superpower feels amazing.
What the Rat truly cannot stand is inefficiency. Waste. Loss. When a Rat loses money—even a small amount—it bothers them. Not just in a normal “oh, that’s disappointing” way. In a “I can feel this mistake in my bones” way. They also really dislike people who are slow to understand, or who ignore their ideas, or who operate without a plan. To a Rat, those people are basically walking around saying “I enjoy wasting time and money.”
And the crazy part? Rat people are often right about opportunities. Because while everyone else is being cautious and thoughtful, the Rat has already seen five possible futures and picked the one that works.
The Ox: The One Who Just Keeps Walking Forward
Now let me tell you about the Ox, because the Ox is the opposite of the Rat in almost every way, and yet somehow also incredibly successful.
Where the Rat is fast and flashy, the Ox is slow and steady. Where the Rat sees opportunities, the Ox sees work that needs doing. And the Ox just… does it. Day after day. Year after year.
I’ve watched Ox people build things—not because they had a brilliant strategy or saw an opportunity that nobody else saw, but simply because they showed up and kept working. They made a plan, and they stuck to it. Even when things were hard. Even when they didn’t feel like it. Even when faster people were out doing flashier things.
And here’s what’s wild: the Ox usually wins.
Not because Oxen are smarter than Rats. They’re not. The Rat will always outthink the Ox. But the Ox has something the Rat sometimes lacks: the ability to commit to something and actually finish it. The Rat starts ten things. The Ox starts one and completes it. By year five, the Ox has achieved one thing with depth and real foundation. The Rat has started and abandoned a dozen projects.
What makes an Ox person special is their capacity for boring, consistent work. They actually like routine. They like knowing what’s going to happen tomorrow because they can plan for it. They like systems and rules because rules make sense. Rules are stable. They like being able to trust people, and they like being trusted in return.
Oxen are completely reliable. If an Ox promises to do something, they will do it. They won’t get distracted. They won’t find a faster way that skips steps. They’ll just do what they said they’d do, the way they said they’d do it, and it will be done well.
This is why Oxen do amazing in fields like construction, manufacturing, agriculture, administration, teaching. Fields where you need people who will show up consistently, do the work properly, and keep going even when things get boring.
What does an Ox like? Stability. A good routine. Being part of a team where everyone knows the rules and follows them. Building something tangible with their hands or effort. And being recognized for that effort. An Ox doesn’t need the flashy recognition. But they do want to know that someone noticed they worked hard and did a good job.
What does an Ox absolutely hate? Change that isn’t planned. Inconsistency. People who don’t keep their word. Rules being broken for no good reason. And maybe worst of all—effort going unrecognized. Because for an Ox, effort is the point. If nobody notices that you worked hard, what was the point?
The Rooster: The One Who Organizes Everything and Then Leads It
And then there’s the Rooster.
My father is a Rooster. My best friend is a Rooster. And I’ve learned that if you put a Rooster in charge of anything—a meeting, a project, a family dinner—things are going to be on time, well-organized, and executed perfectly. Because the Rooster is awake. The Rooster is always awake. Always watching. Always organized.
A Rooster person doesn’t have a “maybe later” setting. They have “now” and “on schedule.” They have high standards for themselves and everyone around them. They notice everything—the small mistake, the person who’s not pulling their weight, the detail that’s not quite perfect. And they cannot just let those things slide.
This is why my father and my best friend are both natural leaders. Not because they’re trying to be. Not because they were chosen. But because they just naturally organize things and then stand at the front of the line. It’s who they are.
Roosters have this incredible confidence. They believe in themselves in a way that’s almost impossible not to notice. They also have this commitment to honesty that can be sharp as a knife. A Rooster will tell you the truth, probably when you don’t want to hear it, probably in a more direct way than is strictly comfortable.
What a Rooster loves is clarity. Clear rules. Clear goals. Clear expectations. They love being organized and organized people around them. They love being excellent at what they do and being recognized for that excellence. They love punctuality and discipline. And they love leading because leading lets them impose order on chaos, and that makes a Rooster happy.
What does a Rooster absolutely hate? Vagueness. Chaos. Laziness. Half-measures. Someone not living up to their potential. And dishonesty. A Rooster can forgive almost anything except lying, because lying messes with clarity, and clarity is everything to a Rooster.
Also—and I say this with love—Roosters can be kind of intense. They’re always doing something, always improving something, always noticing things. Hanging out with a Rooster can feel like being on a gentle but relentless self-improvement program, because they care about standards and they want everyone around them to care about standards too.
What Happens When They Meet
Here’s where it gets funny.
Imagine a Rat, an Ox, and a Rooster all working on the same project.
The Rat sees opportunity everywhere and wants to pivot the whole plan to take advantage of the newest trend. The Rat is already mentally calculating the optimal path.
The Ox looks at the original plan and thinks, “This is solid. We commit to this. We do this. We finish this.” The Ox wants predictability.
The Rooster is checking every detail, making sure the timeline is tight, making sure everyone knows exactly what they’re doing and when, and probably suggesting that everyone could be working a little harder and with a little more precision.
The Rat thinks the Ox is boring and slow. The Ox thinks the Rat can’t commit to anything. The Rooster thinks both of them need to be more organized and have higher standards.
And somehow, often, they end up working together anyway. Because each one brings something the others desperately need.
The Rat brings creative thinking and an eye for opportunity. The Ox brings the actual execution and the ability to see things through. The Rooster brings organization and the ability to make sure everything is actually happening according to plan.
What Kind of Hardworking Are You?
Here’s what I’ve realized: everyone works hard. But hardworking means something different depending on which animal you are.
For the Rat, hardworking means thinking fast and spotting opportunity. It means being strategic. It means knowing when to move and having the confidence to move quickly.
For the Ox, hardworking means showing up consistently and doing the work properly. It means not giving up even when things are boring. It means being reliable enough that people can count on you.
For the Rooster, hardworking means maintaining standards and leading by example. It means organizing things, noticing what needs attention, and making sure everything is done with excellence.
All three are legitimate forms of hard work. All three create success. They just look different.
If you’re a Rat, don’t beat yourself up for changing direction when you see a better opportunity. That’s not flakiness—that’s your superpower. You see things others don’t. Trust that gift. Just maybe learn to follow through on one or two things along the way.
If you’re an Ox, don’t apologize for wanting stability and consistency. Your ability to keep going when others quit, to build something real with your steady effort—that’s the foundation of real wealth and real impact. The world needs Oxes. The slow, steady ones often win the race.
If you’re a Rooster, your standards aren’t too high. Your attention to detail isn’t obsessive. Your need to organize things and lead isn’t arrogance. It’s just who you are. But maybe also remember that not everyone processes things at your speed, and sometimes good is good enough, even if it’s not perfect.
And if you know a Rat, an Ox, and a Rooster? Be grateful. They’re going to drive each other crazy, but together they’re going to build something real.
What’s your zodiac animal? Are you a Rat scanning for opportunity, an Ox plugging away steadily, or a Rooster organizing everything and leading the charge? Or are you something else entirely? Share in the comments—I’d love to hear what kind of hardworking you are.
If you'd like to find out your zodiac animal , check Part 1. If this isn't your birth year animal please check the other parts.
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