This article crossed one of my lists, and I thought it was relevant to this discussion of childhood goals:

http://www.more.com/lifestyle/memoirs/my-so-called-genius/

She writes about precociousness and how that affects later success (or lack thereof). It's a good reminder that smart is nice, but perfectionism and lack of hard work pretty much guarantee that you won't fulfill your promise...and then with age, you can get past all that and just be you.

There's a paragraph on page 2 that I ought to frame and put over my computer. Perfectionism, be gone! Be good, not great!

Kriston