These are all great answers. However, let me stress the importance of not wasting time. The advanced ranks have time requirements and leadership requirements. If you lollygag around and wait until you are 17 to earn Star, you will not make Eagle. Even earning Life could be tricky. Of course, if you are goofing off in your early Scout years, you probably don't really care if you earn your Eagle. Hopefully your troop leaders are watching your progress and can step in early enough to keep you on track if you really do want to earn Eagle. You probably want to have earned your Life rank by the time you're 15. As you go through your teen years, there are more and more distractions pulling you away. If Eagle Scout is a goal for you, you have to allow for those distractions, whether it's a sport season keeping you from getting to meetings for a few months (which can affect holding a leadership position), or getting a part-time job to earn money for college (which can affect going to summer camp and working on merit badges). In the middle of all of this, you need to hold a meaningful, elected troop position, and pulled off the planning and execution of an Eagle project, while finishing up your required merit badges (some of which also have time requirements). Finally, keep track of everything you do, including dates of achievements, and camp-outs. Your troop should also be keeping track, but use their records to verify your own. Perhaps you finished a merit badge and forgot to turn in your blue card. When in doubt, the troop record will prevail. Good luck!