Career success profile: Meet Kevin
Kevin struggled through high school and was barely able to make it through his days. However, Kevin's problems with school weren't because he wasn't intelligent. On the contrary, Kevin was an extremely bright young man who found school too slow and dull to mentally stimulate him. Kevin had a hard time sitting through his classes and was constantly in trouble for entertaining his classmates during lessons. His senior classmates even voted him Class Clown.

After graduation, Kevin did a series of odd jobs and eventually landed a job as an usher for the local repertory theater. After Kevin's very first day of ushering, he was awestruck. Nothing had ever inspired him as much as seeing people perform on stage. He was fascinated by the craft of developing a character and loved the way actors could bring words on a page to life.

Although Kevin wasn't always one to follow through on things, he became determined to keep his ushering job, so he could spend his nights watching classic plays by everyone from Shakespeare to Oscar Wilde. He could also learn by watching the professionals. Kevin enrolled himself in daytime acting classes at the nearby community college. There he could learn how actors interpreted scripts and improve his own techniques. Kevin's natural ability to entertain people, along with his newfound love for the theater, made his chances of succeeding very strong, even in the difficult world of acting. In the meantime, he was enjoying every day of his work life.

Skill builder: Relearning language
It is a strange but true fact that most people have a hard time understanding the structure of words in their native language. This difficulty primarily exists because people pick up language as children by imitating others. It's typically only when people learn a foreign language later in life that they formally examine the roots and structures of words. Consequently, people are often better able to guess correctly the meaning of unfamiliar foreign words than words in their native tongue.

Improving your language skills means approaching language from the bottom up. Many English words have their roots in Latin. If you encounter an unfamiliar English word, chances are if you understood Latin, you'd be able to acquire its meaning. So while it may seem strange, one of the most effective ways to learn English is to learn Latin. Not ready to dive into ancient languages? That's understandable. If this kind of in-depth study is beyond your ambitions right now, then one quick and effective way to improve your skills is to learn about common prefixes and suffixes. Here are a few to get you started:

Career success profile: Meet Nathan
Nathan was a natural at building and restoring homes. In his early twenties, he had already planned to go into construction. However, because Nathan got married very young, his need for a stable income outweighed this original plan. Consequently, Nathan went into insurance sales, which offered him both steady pay and job security. As time went on, Nathan remained somewhat satisfied with his insurance job but would still spend every weekend on home projects.

Years later, once their two children were raised, Nathan admitted to his wife, Maria, that he wished he could do something different. He also told her that he didn't feel that his original passion for construction was a possibility. He was older now and his body could no longer handle the harsh physical requirements. Maria suggested that there might be alternatives that would still allow him to build things and work with his hands. Nathan took that idea to heart, remembering that he'd been very happy restoring furniture for family and friends. Most of the time, he'd done those projects as personal favors. Still, he recalled how everyone had marveled at his abilities. With his wife's encouragement and financial savvy, Nathan decided to take a chance on starting his own custom furniture restoration business. The work was tough but not as grueling as construction. Nathan started out small, but through word of mouth, he gained a steady clientele and a rewarding second career doing something he loved.

Skill builder: Hit the books
Believe it or not, for most people the first step in gaining mechanical aptitude is to get out of the workshop and into the library. Usually what keeps people from developing their mechanical aptitude is their unfamiliarity in working with power tools. However, handling power tools is only part of the story. Understanding how things work is the real first step. Check out some of these books to help you overcome your fears or simply brush up on your skills:

• Mechanical and Spatial Aptitude by Learning Express Series
• Measure Twice, Cut Once: Lessons from a Master Carpenter by Norm Abrams
• Mechanical Aptitude by Frank, Inc Merriwell
• Building Construction Illustrated, by Frank Ching, Cassandra Adams, and Francis D.K. Ching

After getting through some of these resources, you'll not only understand the difference between a hacksaw and a ripsaw; you'll also have a better understanding of the mechanical and spatial principles used by builders and other skilled craftspeople everywhere.

Jessie's family worried about her future and hounded her about what career she was planning to pursue. Jessie thought carefully about her educational experiences and realized that math was something that always came easily to her. She didn't struggle through calculus or advanced geometry like her other friends did. In fact, she enjoyed thinking about mathematical concepts.

Jessie wasn't aware of many careers that utilized math, so she spent time chatting with her parents' friends about their professions. Then one day Jessie was lucky enough to spend a whole day with her mother's friend Sandra who was a stockbroker. During their time together, Jessie discovered how much she enjoyed the idea of using her computational skills to understand probabilities and make financial decisions. Jessie decided that she wanted to become a stockbroker, too. Even though life had thrown her a curveball, Jessie became excited about the endless opportunities this new career offered her. She even sent Sandra a copy of her resume to see if any entry-level positions were available with her firm.

Skill builder: Tackling an applied math problem
Most of the time, people aren't as interested in doing math for its own sake as they are in applying mathematical skills in their daily lives. Think about all those word problems you probably endured throughout your schooling. "If two trains are leaving the station at the same time and one is going 60 mph...." Remember those?

Word problems in mathematics were designed to teach you applied problem solving. Maybe you weren't interested in figuring out how fast the train actually traveled from point A to point B, but if you were listening, chances are it helped you learn to use math in a variety of everyday settings. In case you're a little rusty, here are four tips to help you solve applied math problems (Polya, 1945).

• What information is given to you?
  The first step is to figure out what is being asked mathematically. This is usually the most difficult part, and it can help if you draw pictures and label all the quantitative information given to you.
  
• What is being asked?
  What exactly are you being asked to solve? For example, are you calculating the rate or the distance?
  
• What would be the right equation to use?
  Luckily, you aren't being asked to create solutions from scratch. There are simple equations to use for most types of applied problems. Once you find the correct one, it's just a matter of plug and chug.
  
• Test yourself
  Lastly, you should be able to convert the answer of your applied problem back into your own words so that the solution makes logical sense. If it doesn't seem logical, you'll know to go back and see where your calculations or formula may be off

Career success profile: Meet Cynthia
Cynthia worked for a major real estate company in New York City. One of her roles within the company was to project future earnings based on fluctuations in the market. In the beginning, Cynthia loved this part of her job. She kept close track of many industry information sources and formed ongoing recommendations concerning steps her company should take to ensure long-term success. Unfortunately, over time Cynthia found that many of her ideas fell on deaf ears. It seemed that the majority of people Cynthia worked with preferred to follow established procedures rather than considering new strategies. She didn't know whether they were jealous of her initiative, lazy about enacting fresh ideas, or simply not very creative or broad in their thinking.

Whatever their reasons were, this negative trend eventually resulted in Cynthia becoming frustrated with her job. She was fed up with not being respected for her ideas — especially because when her plans were enacted, they often turned out to be successful. Eventually she decided to leave her position to seek employment with more like-minded individuals. Today, even though Cynthia is earning less at a smaller firm, she is much more content because people respect the quality of her thinking and what she has to say.

Skill builder: Improve the quality of your thinking
Because, by nature, people are always thinking and forming judgments, many of us take for granted that all of our thinking is of good quality. Consider it yourself: When was the last time you took a moment to sit back and analyze the validity of a particular idea or opinion you had? If you're like most people, it probably wasn't very recently.

Unfortunately, individuals typically rely on stereotypes or other mental shortcuts to make quick judgments. As a result, accuracy is often traded for speed. If you look back on times in your own life when you've found yourself in hot water, you may indeed find that many of them were due to mistakes in your judgment or reasoning.

You can improve your reasoning skills by varying the methods you use to make judgments from now on. For instance, when a decision you have to make isn't very important, such as, "Should I have the decaf latte or the double espresso?" go ahead and rely on your quick wits. However, when the decision is a more crucial one, such as, "What do I think of this job candidate?" consider slowing down to question what is making up the basis for your judgment.

You may find that your thought process isn't as rational as you would like to believe. For instance, have you ever formed a negative impression of someone just because they resembled a person you didn't like? Poor generalizations like this one make it all the more important that you allow yourself extra time to honestly assess your initial conclusions. In each new situation, ask yourself if you've made any generalizations without sufficient proof. Also determine whether you've dismissed certain viewpoints because they didn't jibe with your own. By taking steps like these to enhance your critical analysis, you can discover the power of abstract thinking in your daily life.

Career success profile: Meet Alexis
Alexis has been working in sales for years. In her present role, she helps small businesses purchase office furniture suitable for their needs. Although Alexis does a fair job and her clients seem to like her well enough, many of Alexis' colleagues seem much more suited for their roles than she is. They could talk about sales for hours on end, while she'd prefer to think about almost anything else but work.

One day, Alexis was assigned to assist an architectural firm in choosing its furniture. She spent significant time with the architects at their workplace and even had the chance to learn about some of their projects. When Alexis asked one of the architects about some details on a particular floor plan, he noticed that even as a novice she had a good eye and some interesting ideas about the project. He complimented Alexis on her intuitive understanding of design and layouts and suggested that she should consider a career change. He told her she had a real knack for architecture.

Over the next few months, the architect's comments stayed with Alexis. Then one day she got serious about the idea of a career switch and began mulling over the pros and cons. Even though she wasn't the best salesperson, she made a decent living and enjoyed having money to spend on herself. At the same time, she fantasized about going to work every day and doing something that felt natural to her.

Eventually, Alexis decided that in the short term, she would stay in sales to build up her bank account. However, she decided that in two years, she would apply to architecture schools and make a dramatic career change. Knowing that she'd made a plan for her future made Alexis feel better about her present job and excited about the new experiences to come. She is already studying for her college entrance exams and puts money away each month for tuition.

Skill builder: Crank up the Mozart
Researchers in neuropsychology have discovered that listening to or playing classical music significantly enhances spatial reasoning skills. This increase in spatial abilities is called the Mozart Effect (Rauscher, Shaw, and Ky, 1993).

During a series of experiments, researchers found that both children and college-age students performed significantly better on spatial reasoning tasks after listening to classical music. The key appears to be that complex music, such as classical music, is useful in developing higher cognitive functions. Taking up a musical instrument like the piano seems to greatly increase the effects, as well. So not only can it be enjoyable to listen to classical music or learn an instrument, but it's good for your brain, too. For more information on how your brain functioning influences your judgments, check out Emode's The Brain Test: What Your Brain Says About How You Think and Learn.

Skill builder: The myth of multitasking
Cognitive psychologists will tell you that humans can skillfully process only so much information at one time. If people have too much mental stimulation, they experience what is called cognitive overload. When dealing with overload, people typically rely on superficial information in order to make decisions with little mental effort. But cluttered minds often produce cluttered thinking. Even though multitasking has become a favorite buzz phrase of workplaces everywhere, it's likely that you're most effective when concentrating on one thing at a time. Here are some ways to help you finish your projects not only quickly, but also well:

• Don't juggle
  You might be tempted to talk on the phone while you balance your checkbook and read your email, but you should try to avoid doing it. Instead, do one task at a time. You may actually find that by handling each thing separately, you get them all done more quickly.
  
• Create a daily schedule of long-term and short-term goals
  Rather than rushing headlong into your day, take a few minutes in the morning — or even the night before — to make a daily plan for yourself that includes what you need to accomplish and the approximate time needed for each task. Make sure that your schedule includes at least one hour that is set aside to complete your long-term tasks uninterrupted. That way you can avoid juggling.
  
• Stay focused in the present
  Thinking about what you have to finish in an hour doesn't help you complete what you need to do right now. If you stick to your daily schedule as much as you can, work will get accomplished naturally. However, if you get off track, don't spend your time worrying about it. Otherwise you'll accomplish even less.