The restlessness of many a boy and girl results in his or her choice of an
utterly wrong vocation. Boys whose parents would be glad to see them
through college or technical school cannot wait to begin their careers.
Impatient and restless, they undertake the work which will yield quick
results rather than develop their real talents or seek opportunities for
advancement of which they are by nature capable. Over and over again those
who come to us for consultation say: "Father would have been willing to
have put me through school, but I couldn't wait; I simply had to get out
and have my own way. I have never ceased to regret it. Now I have to work
hard with my hands; with a proper education, and in my right job, I could
have used my head." The reader has doubtless heard many such stories from
friends and acquaintances. The world is full of misfits who failed of
their great opportunity because they were too restless, too impatient, to
make proper preparations for their life work. This restlessness,
unfortunately, is a characteristic of many of the most energetic, most
capable, and most intelligent young people, to whom an education would be
worth much, to whom proper training and preparation would bring unusual
self-development. It is, therefore, of the highest importance that the
young man or young woman and his or her parents or guardian should be
especially cautious when there is this feeling of intense eagerness to
begin work.

VERSATILITY

Perhaps one of the most difficult causes of misfits to overcome is
versatility. He who can do many things well seems always to have great
difficulty in fixing upon any one thing and doing that supremely well. The
versatile man is usually fond of variety, changeable, fickle; he loves to
have many irons in the fire; he likes to turn from one kind of work to
another. It is his great failing that he seldom sticks at any one thing