Singleness of Focus

Recently I had a talk with my son, who is going to college, about a narrow focus. Normally we tell our kids not to "niche" themselves with their major or field of study. Be open to all ideas and various courses; you never know what opportunities college will bring. Sounds like good advice right?

Well, recently I've been rethinking this philosophy. Maybe we should be teaching our children to to focus early on what they want to be, and "sticking with it," especially if they already have an early inspiration of their career goal. What if their chosen career goal involves a lot of preparation, such as a physician or neuro scientist? Isn't it better for them to learn to focus early (even at the expense of pursuing other avenues of study) and not waste valuable time?

Getting back to my son, he initially wanted to design cars for the auto industry. He use to tell everyone who asked his career goal in no uncertain terms: "I want to design cars, not the inside, just the body." Since then I've read about several head design chiefs in the automobile industry who have made it to the top with a singleness of focus and a dogged determination that started at an early age. I also have the personal experience of moving in and out of various jobs feeling just a little (or a lot) frustrated that I am not doing exactly what I am created for.

Partially due to this experience and the other factors I mentioned above such as the prospect of wasting valuable time, I now feel that moving in one direction is not so bad. Maybe we should re-evaluate what we are telling our kids, especially when we are spending money for their education :-). What do you think?