Brain Health Part I: Career Success

Are you concerned about your brain health as you age? Gretchen Reynolds, a physical education columnist for The New York Times, often writes about how learning a new sport as a midlife adult may be good for your brain. In fact, learning anything new produces positive benefits in the brain. But until recently, studies have only focused on higher cognitive learning in children. This study presents the need for adults to improve both physical and motor learning. And of course, this will affect your career!

Grey and white matter in the brain

How do different kinds of learning impact the brain? Physical learning develops gray matter in the motor control region of the brain. Language learning develops white matter in the language processing area. Familiar physical exercise, while beneficial to overall brain health, does not result in the same benefits as learning a new sport. This means your daily walk won’t necessarily cut it. Sedentary activities such as filling in crossword puzzles or playing video learning games have limited benefit on brain development.  

Brain Health and Your Career

Why does this matter to The Career Profiler? There are two main ways. The first is how brain capacity affects career success. The second is how high brain capacity affects career choice. This article will focus on the first. Greater success can be found in those careers with a well-developed brain.

For example, a 21-year-old man recently took the BullsEye Career test package. He was raised without a television in his house. His mother, a preschool teacher, encouraged him to engage in non-screen activities like outdoor play. Much of his playtime included tinkering, building, music, reading, and journaling as required by his mother. In high school, he played all the team sports until injuries sidelined him.

Juggling is a great activity to improve brain health

He also earned top grades, becoming a valedictorian. Of all the people who have completed my BullsEye Career test package, he scored the highest on the ability profile as a whole, if not the highest on all individual ability test modules. Even if he was smart to begin with, his activities, as we now know from motor and cognitive learning studies, no doubt expanded his brain capabilities.

The same is true when you learn a new physical exercise as an adult. Especially for second career applicants, picking up a new hobby like juggling or snowboarding might be a way to ensure your brain stays sharp for your next job. 

What’s a sport or activity that you want to pick up? Maybe this is an area that you need coaching in, either from a physical fitness coach or a career coach. The Career Profiler can help you identify your driving aptitudes and develop your capacity in the areas that you are already fit to expand in. Keep your  brain healthy by learning new things and working with a career coach to expand your potential.

Aptitudes are a new way to find happiness. Do you feel bored and dissatisfied? Ever wonder why certain kinds of work bore you? Why do some people love paperwork when it drives others crazy? Or have you ever cleaned up and organized your work desk or room and felt a sense of relief and happiness afterward?

All of these questions have to do with aptitudes. Few people know that using your aptitudes is one of the surest ways to find happiness. An aptitude is a natural ability that someone is born with. Read more about aptitudes and how to test yours at TestEts.

Next, it’s important to know that many aptitudes demand expression. This means that if you are not using this aptitude, you are not happy or productive. Think of an artist who is moody and unfocused unless they have an outlet for their creative expression. The Highlands Ability Battery, a top-of-the-line aptitude test, calls these aptitudes driving abilities. The THAB organizes them into five groups:

Know your aptitudes and find what makes you happy

1. Classification
2. Concept Organization
3. Idea Productivity
4. Spatial Relations Theory
5. Spatial Relations Visualization.

Most people test strongly in at least one of these aptitudes. Doing things that use that aptitude more than others will probably result in success and happiness. On the other hand, if you consistently do things that require an aptitude you test weakly in, it will probably be difficult, draining, and may result in a sense of boredom or dissatisfaction.

So What?

There are many ways understanding aptitudes can change your life. It can help guide you in different day-to-day activities. After understanding your aptitudes, you will be able to recognize others’ aptitudes and improve your personal relationships. Perhaps most importantly for this website, knowing your aptitudes helps you know what to do and be with certainty! Knowing your aptitudes helps you find the right career for you.

Getting a job that uses your driving abilities and avoids the ones you lack most likely will result in your career success and happiness! This is one reason why it’s important to know your aptitudes and to find a job that uses them. Johnson O’Connor, a leader in the aptitude testing world, says, “It has been our experience, from over half a century of measuring aptitudes, that people tend to be more satisfied in occupations that challenge their aptitudes and that do not demand aptitudes they lack.”

Finally, one of the best ways to find your aptitudes is to take The Highlands Ability Battery, mentioned above. The Career Profiler strongly recommends this test. So much so, in fact, that she offers two free consultations to interpret your results and make a career plan! Get in touch with The Career Profiler today!