The Gift in You: Discovering New Life Through Gifts Hidden in Your Mind (5 page)

• You love to roam in the realm of imaginary and irrational numbers.
  

• You find paradoxes challenging.
  

• You love to create theories of how things work.
  

• You like to work out and fully understand complex sequences.
  

• You need systematic proof of something before using it.
  

• You show the ability to recognize and then solve problems.
  

Here is a short list of possible professions that people with Logical/ Mathematical thinking tend to gravitate to:

• Scientist
  

• Medical Doctor
  

• Mathematician
  

• Project Manager
  

• Accountant
  

• Lecturer
  

• Engineer
  

• Researcher
  

• Computer Programmer
  

• Pathologist
  

• Banker
  

• Forensic Scientist
  

• Lawyer
  

• Detective
  

• Animal Tracker
  

• Business
  

• Computer Analyst
  

Kinesthetic Thinking

Kinesthetic intelligence is the intelligence of movement, somatic sensation and moving around. Your Kinesthetic pillar helps you play soccer, run around, sit in a chair without falling off of it or navigate your way down an aisle. This pillar includes integrating your sensations from inside your body as well.

By definition, this is a very tactile, energetic, multisensory type of thinking that involves the control of body movements, the ability to co-ordinate yourself and the capacity to handle objects and things around you skillfully.

These kinds of thinkers need to touch, feel and move things around. To understand and retain information, they have to maneuver or experience what they learn.

Kinesthetic thinking is undervalued in most academic environments, which place a higher value on problem-solving and Linguistic approaches. Kinesthetic learners are the "busy body" types, the ones who learn best by moving around, the ones educators usually label as "naughty," "disruptive," "hyperactive" or "just plain stupid." Kinesthetic learners, of course, are none of these things; it's just that sitting in a classroom situation where someone just talks at them is not at all the ideal learning environment for them.

When faced with such a learning environment, Kinesthetic learners often feel as if information "goes in one ear and out the other." The fact is, it almost literally does just that. If they can only hear information, Kinesthetic learners' brains do not process information in a form that can be stored effectively in their memory banks, because they must build memory through movement.

If Kinesthetic thinking is strong (near the top) you may display a few or all of these qualities:

• You have good coordination.
  

• You show a good sense of timing.
  

• You approach problems physically.
  

• You explore your environment through touch and movement.
  

• You like to fiddle with and do things.
  

• You often stretch.
  

• You like role-play and drama.
  

• You love to dance.
  

• You need to move when thinking.
  

• You enjoy exercise.
  

• You enjoy crafts an hobbies.
  

• You demonstrate balance, dexterity, grace and precision in physical tasks.
  

• You invent new approaches to physical skills.
  

Here is a short list of possible professions that people with high Kinesthetic thinking follow:

• Actor
  

• Athlete
  

• Dancer
  

• Inventor
  

• Jeweler
  

• Sculptor
  

• Artist
  

• Electrician
  

• Mechanic
  

• Surgeon
  

• Race Car Driver
  

• Choreographer
  

• Artisan
  

• Occupational Therapist
  

• Physical Therapist
  

Musical Thinking

Musical intelligence might seem like it's the ability to sing or play a musical instrument - that's obvious - but surprisingly, it's also the ability to read patterns, identify rhythm, deal with instincts and, most importantly, read between the lines.

It works very extensively with the part of your brain called the
insula
, which is deep inside the Musical intelligence and helps you to actually have instinct, allowing you to read between the lines. It allows you to sense meaning and to verify it.

For example, when you ask your friend, "Are you okay?" and she says, "Yes, I'm fine" (with a quiver in her voice), this pillar allows you to
actu
- ally read that she's not so fine.

It's the ability to read people, through their tone of voice and body language, rather than just listening to their words.

This Musical pillar incorporates sensitivity to pitch, melody, rhythm and tune in sounds and movements you hear and see around you, as well as the
abilityo
produce rhythm, pitch and forms of musical expression.

It is also the intelligence of intuition, "gut-instinct" and reading body language. On one end of the human scale is the level of musical thinking attributed to interpretation of conversation, and on the other end of the scale is the level attributed to Mozart.

Some types of thought have a critical period for optimal development, and Musical intelligence is one of them. The years between the ages of four and six are the optimal time for developing sensitivity to sound and pitch. It is therefore during this time that musical ability is best developed. This does not mean, of course, that you will never be able to develop your ability beyond those years. All humans have the capacity to develop their Musical intelligence.

If this is a dominant pillar in your gift structure, then you build memory through rhythm and intuition.

However, no matter whether your Musical intelligence is high or low, music can still help you learn. Classical music, in particular, has proven to be beneficial in classrooms and other learning environments.

If your Musical intelligence is strong, then characteristics you may display include:

• You instinctively feel when things are right or wrong.
  

• You don’t do things unless they “feel” right.
  

• You can’t always explain why but you know when someone is to be trusted or not to be trusted.
  

• You are highly sensitive to your surroundings and feel comfortable or uncomfortable in certain places.
  

• You are able to “read between the lines” of what people are saying.
  

• You find yourself interpreting the meaning behind things.
  

• You seek out sound.
  

• You respond to music.
  

• You like to compose music.
  

• You play an instrument.
  

• You can sing in tune.
  

• You keep time to music.
  

• You instinctively listen critically to music.
  

• You listen and respond to environmental sounds.
  

• You collect songs, instruments and music.
  

• You create musical instruments.
  

• You use the vocabulary and notation of music.
  

• You hum often.
  

• You tend to tap your foot, finger or pen when working or listening.
  

• You offer interpretations of the meaning of music.
  

• You have a highly developed intuition.
  

Here is a short list of possible professions that people with high Musical thinking gravitate to:

• Conductor
  

• Instrument Maker
  

• Composer
  

• Mixing Engineer
  

• Piano Tuner
  

• Disc Jockey
  

• Music Educator
  

• Instrumentalist
  

• Performer
  

• Dancer
  

• Musician
  

• Singer
  

• Recording Engineer
  

• Public Speaker
  

Visual/Spatial Thinking

Visual/Spatial thinking is the ability to see color, light, shape and depth. You are able to close your eyes and imagine, seeing things that are not actually in front of your eyes.

Blind people have a very, very well developed Visual/Spatial intelligence, because they rely on what they see in their mind's eye.

Visual/Spatial intelligence is the ability to be able to see without seeing; for example, you can imagine a loved one and call up a visual image from your non-conscious into consciousness. This is the ability to visualize in pictures and/or images, to "see" with the mind's eye, to make mental maps, to perceive the visual/spatial world accurately, and to act on initial perceptions.

Visual/Spatial intelligence is about internally representing the spatial world out there in your mind and being able to orientate yourself in three-dimensional space with ease.

Artists have high Visual/Spatial thinking which expresses itself in great works of art like the masterpieces of Leonardo
da
Vinci and Michelangelo.

This type of thinking is not restricted to the arts. In Sir Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein, for example, the expression of their high Visual/Spatial thinking was more scientific. It also is not restricted to the physical sense of what something looks like.

If this type of thought is high up in your sequence, then you build memory through abstract language and imagery.

If your Visual/Spatial intelligence is high, some characteristics you show include:

• You often stare off into space while listening.
  

• You enjoy hands-on activities. That is, you learn by seeing and doing.
  

• You recognize faces but may not remember names.
  

• You navigate through spaces well; for example, you easily find your way through traffic.
  

• You think in pictures and visualize details easily.
  

• You perceive both obvious and subtle patterns and see things in different ways or from new angles. You are proficient in both representational and abstract design.
  

Here is a short list of possible professions that people with high Visual/ Spatial intelligence gravitate to:

• Sculptor
  

• Archaeologist
  

• Leader
  

• CEO
  

• Graphic Designer
  

• Engineer
  

• Draftsperson
  

• Sailor
  

• Videographer
  

• Photographer
  

• Mathematical Topologist
  

• Painter
  

• Naturalist
  

• Navigator
  

• Battlefield Strategist
  

• Architect
  

• Pilot
  

Although you will have dominant pillars in the structure of your gift, you function using all seven. And it is our own unique sequence of our gift structures that forms how we process information, how we see the world.