Two of the spin-offs of learning to fly, for me, were improved decision making skills and an enhanced ability to address vital issues NOW and secondary ones later - including the ability to differentiate rapidly which ARE the vital issues and which can wait.
This undoubtedly helped me progress in my (non aviation) career. I like to think that all that money I spent on my main 'outside of work' interest was more than paid back in career advancement that may not have happened if I hadn't taken up aviating.
On a related note, wasn't it Nevil Shute, in one of his books, who wrote words to the effect of "doing something demanding, like flying, which has an ever present element of danger if you get it wrong, gives one an enhanced sense of proportion in dealing with everyday life"?