Anybody can get a job and make a buck.
But earning money and finding where you truly belong are not always the same thing.
Sometimes life has already placed clues inside you—and aptitude testing can help bring them to the surface.
Anyone can get a job and make a buck.
But is it your dream job?
Does the money make the work come alive?
Or are you simply exchanging hours for dollars while something inside you keeps saying:
“There has to be more than this.”
Too often we forget that life may have a specific purpose for each one of us.
And with that purpose may come many of life’s rewards—not merely money, but satisfaction, enthusiasm, usefulness, contribution, growth, and the feeling that you are actually standing where you belong.
But where do we start?
That remains to be discovered.
Part 1 was about paying attention to the clues already contained in your life.
Now let us add another tool.
APTITUDE TESTING
There are many aptitude and career-assessment tests available that can become excellent awareness activators.
I like that description better than calling them answer machines.
They are not going to tell you who you are.
They may help you notice who has been there all along.
These assessments can examine interests, natural tendencies, abilities, preferences, working styles, and areas where you appear to score higher or lower.
That information can begin opening doors in your thinking.
You may suddenly recognize:
“I HAVE always liked doing that.”
Or:
“People HAVE always told me I was good at this.”
Or even:
“Now I understand why that kind of work drains the life out of me.”
LOL.
Awareness is valuable.
Sometimes we do not need somebody to hand us an answer.
We need something to help us see the answer forming inside ourselves.
YOUR HEART’S DESIRE HAS TO ENTER THE ROOM
You can possess skill without possessing desire.
That matters.
A person can be very good at something they have absolutely no interest in doing for the next thirty years.
So aptitude is only part of the conversation.
Your heart’s desire has to come into play too.
Not merely selfish desire.
Not:
“How can I get rich quickly?”
Not:
“What title will impress everybody?”
But something deeper.
What type of activity makes you feel useful?
What kind of problem do you enjoy solving?
What kind of contribution makes you feel alive?
What would you willingly become better at even if nobody applauded you for six months?
That begins getting interesting.
Because when ability and sincere desire start pointing in the same direction, life gets your attention.
HERE’S AN IDEA WORTH LOOKING INTO
I literally stumbled into a room full of computers one day while I was in college.
The room was empty.
There were different computer stations offering aptitude testing.
They all had different names and apparently measured different areas.
There was nobody around to ask questions.
So what did Richie do?
I sat down.
LOL.
I started one program.
Then another.
Then another.
Nobody told me to.
Nobody assigned it.
I became curious.
And curiosity can sometimes be one of life’s finest teachers.
FASCINATING TIME WELL SPENT
I spent hours in that room going from computer to computer.
Test after test.
Question after question.
At the end, you could print the results.
The different assessments began identifying areas where I scored high and areas where I scored lower.
Of course, they usually do not say:
“Richie, you’re terrible at this.”
LOL.
They use more respectable language.
Strengths.
Preferences.
Areas of greater aptitude.
Areas of lesser aptitude.
Much nicer.
But the information was fascinating.
Because when several different tests begin pointing toward similar characteristics, you start paying attention.
One assessment may be interesting.
Three or four different assessments repeating similar themes?
Now we have clues.
PATTERNS MATTER
One result by itself should not run your life.
But patterns deserve investigation.
Suppose several assessments suggest that you are strong in communication.
Then throughout your life people repeatedly tell you:
“You explain things well.”
And you enjoy teaching, speaking, writing, selling ideas, or helping somebody understand something complicated.
Hello.
We might have something here.
Or perhaps testing shows strong mechanical or spatial aptitude.
You have always enjoyed taking things apart.
You naturally understand how pieces fit together.
People bring broken things to you.
You lose track of time building, repairing, designing, or improving things.
Again:
Hello.
Life may have been leaving breadcrumbs all over the floor.
The test simply helps you notice them.
YOU REMAIN THE CONSTANT AND THE SOURCE
After these assessments identify some patterns, they often offer lists of occupations or fields that tend to align with those characteristics.
If you score strongly in certain areas, they may suggest professions worth investigating.
If you score lower in other areas, that information can be useful too.
But remember this:
The test is not your boss.
It is information.
No computer can ultimately tell YOU:
Where you must go.
What you must do.
When you must do it.
How far you must take it.
You remain the constant.
You remain the source.
The assessment gives feedback.
You provide judgment.
That is an important distinction.
Do not take a test result and immediately announce:
“Well, apparently I have to become a marine biologist.”
Especially if you hate water.
LOL.
Use common sense.
Use the information.
Then investigate.
THE TEST IS A FLASHLIGHT — NOT A ROADMAP
Here is how I see it.
An aptitude assessment is like handing you a flashlight in a room that has been somewhat dark.
The flashlight does not choose your destination.
It simply helps you see what is already there.
Maybe you discover an ability you have been overlooking.
Maybe something you considered ordinary is actually one of your strongest natural gifts.
That happens often.
Why?
Because what comes naturally to us frequently feels unremarkable to us.
You think:
“Everybody can do this.”
No.
Everybody cannot.
That may be precisely why it is difficult for you to recognize your own gift.
You have been living with it so long that you think it is normal.
YOUR SKILLS BANK MAY BE HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT
This is why I like the idea of a SKILLS BANK.
Everyone has deposits.
Some were present early.
Some came from education.
Some came through work.
Some came through hardship.
Some came through hobbies.
Some came through raising children.
Some came through helping others.
Some came through sheer trial and error.
Do not underestimate acquired skills just because they did not arrive naturally.
Life teaches too.
You may begin with aptitude and eventually build mastery through experience.
The question is:
What is sitting in your account?
And what are you doing with it?
FOLLOW UP WITH REAL-WORLD EXPERIMENTS
Once testing gives you a direction, test the TEST.
Try something.
Take a class.
Volunteer.
Shadow somebody working in that profession.
Start a small project.
Talk to people who actually do the work.
Read about the field.
Spend a day around it.
Because something that sounds wonderful on a career report may feel very different at 7:15 on a Monday morning.
LOL.
Real life gets a vote too.
Aptitude tells you:
“You may have ability here.”
Experience tells you:
“Do you actually want to live here?”
You need both.
DO NOT LET AGE STOP THE QUESTION
I recommend aptitude testing to people of all ages.
Teenagers choosing educational directions.
College students uncertain about majors.
Adults considering career changes.
People returning to the workforce.
Retirees wondering what their next chapter could contain.
Why should curiosity about yourself have an expiration date?
At sixty, seventy, or eighty, you may discover an ability that never had enough room to breathe earlier in life.
Maybe it becomes a business.
Maybe a hobby.
Maybe mentoring.
Maybe volunteering.
Maybe art.
Maybe teaching.
Maybe simply something that makes Wednesday afternoons wonderful.
Purpose is not restricted to payroll.
INVESTIGATE TAKING APTITUDE TESTS
If you feel stuck, uncertain, misplaced, restless, or simply curious, investigate aptitude testing.
It may be worth the time, money, and effort.
Not because a test will magically discover your destiny.
But because it can help identify and awaken your SKILLS BANK.
Sometimes all a person needs is a nudge.
A little confirmation.
A direction worth investigating.
A piece of paper that makes them say:
“You know what? I HAVE always been good at that.”
And something starts moving.
RICHIE SPEAKS
Do not wait for lightning to hit you with a sign reading:
THIS IS YOUR PURPOSE.
Life is usually more subtle than that.
It drops clues.
A compliment here.
An interest there.
Something you are naturally good at.
Something you cannot stop talking about.
Something you keep returning to even after years away from it.
Pay attention.
Take the tests.
Read the results.
Compare them with your life.
Then go out and investigate what they are pointing toward.
You are still driving the vehicle.
The assessment is simply pointing at a few road signs you may have missed.
And remember:
A low score does not mean you are less valuable.
A high score does not make you superior.
We are trying to find FIT.
Where does what is inside you fit best?
Put the right seed in the right soil and suddenly everybody calls it growth.
Maybe the seed was never the problem.
Maybe it was simply planted in the wrong place.
From there, the world becomes your oyster.
And since this is Pearls for the Soul…
You already know what might be waiting inside.
Travel well.
Travel deep.
And continue discovering who you are and what you are here to do.
— Richie
Pearls for the Soul
when you feed the soul, you feed everything.
https://pearlsforthesoul.com
Been expecting you