Stanford University professor and author William Damon is one of the preeminent experts on the development of purpose in youth. His book The Path to Purpose: How Young People Find Their Calling in Life is a classic.
As the Director of the Stanford Center on Adolescence, Damon has gathered a number of insights that parents would be smart to pay attention to. Particularly, his insights on the defining trait that indicates a young person will have success later in life. Contrary to popular belief, this trait has nothing to do with being a valedictorian or getting a high GPA. Indeed, this trait has nothing to do with school at all.
Damon writes:
One of the defining features of highly purposeful youth is their entrepreneurial manner of pursuing objectives. For the highly purposeful people profiled in chapter 4, entrepreneurship was a stronger common factor than usual measures of success such as school achievement. Although these youngsters generally did well enough in school, few of them were valedictorians or all-A students; but virtually all were superb entrepreneurs. As a predictor of later success in life, I would place my bet on strong entrepreneurial capacities.