Neuroscientist: Dr. Gabija Toleikyte

Dr. Gabija Toleikyte

Dr. Gabija Toleikyte is a trained neuroscientist. She uses her knowledge of the brain in her new capacity as a career coach. She works with academics, entrepreneurs, managers, athletes, artists and people from corporate jobs, helping them in their search for a fulfilling and successful career.

I've learned a great deal from Gabija and she pops up at various points on my journey so far. Today, I'd like to share with you what she taught me about my values hierarchy. 

In our first meeting, I began to explain my confusion over finding the right sort of career for me. 

  She began to ask probing questions like:

“What is more important to you, work, friends or family?”

“If you could live anywhere in the world, do any profession and spend time with anyone you choose, what would your life look like?”

I was stumped. They were difficult questions to answer.

Dr Toleikyte explained that my values hierarchy was not clear. This was no surprise given that 5 minutes ago, I didn’t realise I even had one. She told me to do a values test designed by this man, Dr John Martini:

Here’s the link (it’s free to do!):

The test asked me stuff like:

“What do you always find energy for?”
“How do you spend your money most?”
“Where are you most reliable, disciplined and focused?”

At the end I received my values hierarchy:

It was quite a strange feeling. Having been asked some unusual questions about how I spent my money and where I was ordered and disciplined DeMartini somehow found a window to my soul. Whilst rather unnerving, seeing my life laid out like this was cathartic. It seemed to make sense of the constant chit-chatter of thoughts that relentlessly buzz around my brain.

How had this helped in my quest to find the dream job? It had shown me what I am really motivated by. If I can build a life around my core values then I will be spending my time doing the things I truly love.