Despite all my encouragement to people to get their dream job, I realize that you have to make sure it’s realistic.

I have an example to illustrate my point: There was an old TV show, the Andy Griffith show, about a friendly sheriff (Andy) who is unwillingly forced to evict an old man because he can’t pay back taxes on his house.

Andy asks the old man if he has any way to generate income, his business is making berries for women’s hats. The old man tells Andy that business has been bad. Andy asks “Well, have you ever thought of changing your business?” The old man is resistant, asking “Oh, why would I want to do that?”.

Andy answers “Making berries on women’s hats isn’t exactly a hot industry right now”. The old man says, “No, but with women’s styles changing every year, you never know, if berries were to come back in again, I’d be sitting pretty!”. Even though berries on women’s hats had long gone out of style, the old man believed that some day he will cash in on his backlog supply.

The old man was obviously once good at what he did, and even had an understanding of his industry. He reasoned that women’s styles change, so berries on hats have GOT to come back. But he was stuck in his way of thinking. Sometimes you have to reevaluate what you’re doing, make adjustments and even change course if necessary.