What Is Aptitude?
An aptitude is a component of a competence to do a certain kind of work at a certain level. Outstanding aptitude can be considered “talent”. An aptitude may be physical or mental. Aptitude is inborn potential to do certain kinds of work whether developed or undeveloped. Ability is developed knowledge, understanding, learnt or acquired abilities (skills) or attitude. The innate nature of aptitude is in contrast to skills and achievement, which represent knowledge or ability that is gained through learning.
Aptitude and intelligence quotient are related, and in some ways differing views of human mental ability. Unlike the original idea of IQ, aptitude often refers to one of the many different characteristics which can be independent of each other, such as aptitude for military flight, air traffic control, or computer programming
What Is Career?
The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word “career” as a person’s “course or progress through life (or a distinct portion of life)”. This definition relates “career” to a range of aspects of an individual’s life, learning, and work.
When motivational speakers tell you that you can be anything you want to be…they are not telling you the whole truth. This is because there are roles you cannot play effectively in life despite your education and training.
We waste our time and operate below capacity if we dont find the roles we can NATURALLY excel in.
The right thing to say is that YOU CAN BE BEST OF WHO YOU ALREADY ARE.
Haven’t you seen that no matter your schooling and passion, you cannot solve mathematics like some people!
We are all wired differently and discovering what you are wired to do is the beginning of success. You can exploit your potentials maximally if you have discovered your talents.
What I want to share today is not a motivational talk but a research carried out by World Renowned Psychologists. A study of 2million people than span 8years. These researchers observed that people who love their career or what they are into always excel. So they went in to research the connections between loving what you are doing and excellence.
Their main finding was that success becomes easy when people’s career aligned with their natural talents.
No matter how you teach a dog to swim, it can never beat fish in swimming. No matter how u teach a goat to roar, it can never roar like a lion.
The lesson therefore is that instead of imitating people or working on your weaknesses, the best thing to do is to discover your brilliant area, your strength, your domain of excellence and dominate there!
I say it again, if u like, go to the best business school, not everyone can do well in business.
Some persons are wired to work for others. Some people are wired to be good followers. Some people are wired to cause trouble for those around them. When you understand this, you will learn how to navigate your life when idiots surround you.
These researchers observed that despite that environment, religion and schooling change people, their core personality traits remained unchanged over time. Even when people become rich or powerful, their passions and interest rarely change.
That means that great and consistent performance can only come from area of your talent and not from what you learn or your school taught you.
Talent means your natural way of thinking, feeling and behaving. Investment in yourself means your skills, your knowledge and your experience.
Talent × investment = your strength
So when you go for interview and they ask you what are your strengths, dont talk about skills alone but mixture of talent, skills, knowledge and experience.
Since sterling performance can only come from our primary area of giftedness, it is important that you tally your career to your talent. It will not only make it easier to grow but provide you with skills that you need to expand into careers that are related.
For example, if your talent is communication, you will discover that there are related career you can excel in such as teaching, ministry, coaching, marketing, publishing, media business, consulting and NGO business.
According to their research, there are 34 talent area. Some people can have two or three or four of these talents. Focusing on them will make you a star easily without much stress.
Imagine where CR7 would have been today if he was playing basketball
Categories Of Aptitude Areas In Life
I will discuss 17 out of 34 talent areas today and finish the others next time:
1. Achievers: they are driven by achievements. It makes them happy. They always ask themselves what have I achieved. For them, life is measured by achievements. Such person cannot do well working under someone. They are leaders and need to go into entrepreneurship, politics or anywhere they will not be bossed around.
2. Activators: action is everything. They will always tell you let’s start…when do we start. Even when they dont understand what u want to do, they simply want to start. They are good workers, engineers and producers.
3. Adaptability: they are not afraid of the future…they believe that somehow somehow they will make things happen. They can travel without cloth but will survive..they make good entrepreneurs and sportsmen.
4. Analytical: they always need sound logic and argument. Always want you to prove it. Most professional courses belong here: lawyers, doctors, architects, researchers, astronauts.
5. Arrangers: Ensures that things fall in place. E.g decorators, fashion experts, editors, planners, statisticians.
6. Commandos: They dont feel any discomfort imposing their will and desires on people. They are naturally domineeeing and blunt. Emotions do not shake them. Example include politicians, managers, law enforcement officers, nurses.
7. Communicators: they thrive on building people…write, teach, inspire, counsel etc. They are good at teaching, ministry, marketing, counseling, media presentations.
8. Competitors: their lives are fueled by comparison. Always measure and focus on other people. Examples include: Entrepreneurs, Public relations officers, police, spy agents.
9. Connectedness: life is about network. They easily get along with people e.g counsellors, marketing, models, drivers.
10. Consistency: Always insist on level playing ground. E.g activists, social mobilizers, quality control officers, finance officers.
11. Developer: they see potentiasl in things and in people. Career: Scientists, ministry, leadership, entrepreneurship.
12. Disciplined: mistakes annoy them. Career: teachers, lawyers, software developers, analysts,
13. Includer: always want others to benefit. Career: NGO, teachers, organizers, media persons.
14. Learner: always interested in learning even at old age. Career: writers, publishers, public speakers, researchers, inventors.
15. Futuristic: always thinking about how to influence the future. Career: entrepreneurs, software developers, engineers.
16. Intellection: always want to stretch the brain. Career: philosophers, psychologists,
17. Individualization: always want to point out what others ignore. Career: critic, researcher, lawyer, planner, quality control officer.
I will discuss the remaining ones next time
In conclusion, stop spending time on your weaknesses. Go and build on your strengths. Before you learn any skill or gain new experience, ensure it aligns with your natural talent. In relationship, look for someone with talents you are deficient in. You do not gain anything by reinventing the will.