Hattie McDougal had begun to worry about her abilities. She was 48 years old and a highly successful business leader. She was the youngest employee to head up a major profit center for her company. Every year, she received the maximum bonus awarded by the Board of Directors.
Lately, she noticed a decline in her own performance. While this decline was not visible to others, it was a nagging concern to her. She had lost her creative ability and had become less decisive. She had become less focused and her ability to work through issues seemed to be declining.
Hattie worried she might be experiencing a decline in mental capacity. She decided to meet with a sorority sister from college who had a career in neuroscience. Once Hattie described her concerns, her sorority sister, Sally, took her hand and said, “What you’re experiencing is normal. Mental decline is normal for everyone. It generally occurs between the late 30s and early 50s.” What followed was a conversation that changed Hattie’s life direction.
Hattie: So, this isn’t an early sign of dementia or other neurological disorder?
Sally: I can’t say for sure until we do some testing, but it’s inevitable that all of us will see some degradation in the prefrontal section of our brains. Your symptoms match what we normally see with that degradation. I’m seeing the same thing in myself.
Hattie: So, there’s no cure?
Sally: Not as you normally think of a cure. What you are seeing is a decline in what we think of as fluid intelligence. That’s our ability to examine complex information and arrive at a reasonable approach to deal with these kinds of situations.
Hattie: I can see that. But what’s next?
Sally: Your mind is increasingly its crystallized intelligence. You have a tremendous amount of knowledge and wisdom. That intelligence continues to grow if we take advantage of it.
Hattie: I’m not sure what you mean by taking advantage of it.
Sally: You should give some thought to a second career that utilizes and grows your crystallized intelligence.
Hattie: And what might that career be?
Sally: There are a number of possibilities. You might become a mentor for developing leaders. Or you could leave the corporate world and teach. You might want to shift your life’s plans entirely and get involved in public service. The thing you don’t want to do is retire. You need to focus now on developing relationships with others using your crystallized intelligence. We are beginning to understand now that growing your crystallized intelligence can also improve your health as you age.
Hattie: That’s a lot to think about. You are forcing me to think about reality, and that’s good.
Reality is a tough thing to face as we age. Too often, we delay thinking about our mental capabilities. We may go beyond the moment when a shift from a career based on fluid intelligence to crystallized intelligence is the most effective. Facing this career reality might be the most important thing we do for later years of meaning and purpose rather than regret and disappointment.
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“A satisfied life is better than a successful life. Because our success is measured by others, but our satisfaction is measured by our own soul, mind and heart.”-Unknown