There's a good arguement that backgammon and bridge are better training for real life because of the mixture of strategy and randomness.
My experience learning the game, alongside my wife, who we learned later in life is an exemplary player! (The story behind that involves a period of high work travel for me, a Playstation, and Doyls Room online poker and a $2K seed bankroll...)
...my experience is this game will, or can if you allow it, change how you think. Maybe the more accurate thing to say would be the game opens up more kinds of thought.