I just finished reading The Element. It's a quick and easy read. Ken defines the Element as the "sweet spot" that is the meeting point between your natural aptitude and your passion, what you love to do.
I thought it was brilliant how he modified the question "Are you intelligent?" to "How are you intelligent?". I definitely agree fully with his assertion that there are many different types and combinations of intelligences that should be valued and allowed to flourish.
While reading the book I started to think about how I'm intelligent and what disciplines I like or am particularly good at. I would say that I'm a visual person, I have to be able to see something to really understand it. I'm also quick at identifying visual patterns. I'm good at directions and orienting objects/ideas in 3D. I'm a big-picture thinker, I like to think of overall strategy rather than minutia, and I have very good body-awareness and dexterity. I'm also pretty good at reading relationships and navigating group situations. When I can use these skills I'm most creative and having the most fun. Some examples include athletics, cross-stitching, I did jig-saw puzzles endlessly as a kid. I loved organic chemistry and fiddling around with the 3D models. I love leadership and teaching and helping others do their best. And I can always orient myself on North/South and East/West planes. When I give directions I focus more on buildings and surroundings and geography then names of streets.
With this aptitudes in mind, I'm more excited than ever that I'm going to be a doctor. I think all of these traits will fit me well in the future. Using my dexterity in something like like surgery (or other hands-on parts of medicine) is really appealing to me. I also really love helping other people in terms of making sure they're informed and understand what's going on. The images and physicality of medicine is really appealing to me.
I hope that I'll hit my sweet spot as a doctor and love it as much as I imagine I will.
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