This year's first quarter will probably be your best. You find that you are now self-sufficient, have better focus and some of your sharper edges have dulled. Between January 18th and February 8th, you're the first to address issues or innovations. Business partners and clients trust you with confidential matters and responsibilities. You come up with some brilliant ideas in late February, but can you carry it out is the important thing. In March, you find the energy for a side project or a hobby. Other forces are at work, though. Towards the end of March, company politics or market shifts put your plans on hold. Downsizing may happen to you or those around you. Compromise is central to your profession. Reposition an old program in the last ten days of April. When enough people distinguish what you're doing, the changeover is smooth. Colleagues develop personal bonds in mid-May. This could become an obstacle when hard-nosed common sense overrides informal agreements. Real friendship will endure. In the following months, meetings become a place to expose one another's weaknesses. Lean heavily on research material. Work around people that are too caught up in themselves. You're ready to switch jobs or projects as August begins. A better offer comes by the 24th, whether internally or from a new direction. Improvement is a pleasant surprise even when you're expecting it. For those still hanging onto the same job, a review confirms what you needed to know. You now have the whole fourth quarter to act accordingly. Mercury helps your communication issues after it goes direct on October 6th. This month is a bad time for firing or quitting - one or both parties will soon regret the forced ending. Aggressive business practices pump new life into your operation in the week before Dusshera. Opposing forces have a short period between November 19th and 23rd to settle their differences. Retailers find their year-end sales climbing. This is a season of generous bonuses all around.