The Defining Trait of a Young Person Who Will Have Success Later in Life
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.