“Follow your dreams.” Are you heeding this career advice? It is great advice, but it is not the only advice to consider. Think about the people who currently hold their “dream” jobs. How many of these people got the job because they followed their lifelong dream? Some did, but the rest of them didn’t see it until it was right in front of them.
For most, our dreams change along the way. As a 5-year old, I dreamed of being an actress. This dream led me to an undergraduate major in theatre. Studying at a large public university opened new doors to other academic disciplines. My one-lane dream highway became a multi-lane interstate highway that led me to become a professor at the Kelley School of Business, where I teach tax law to accounting majors.
Who dreams of becoming a tax professor? Not me. I wanted nothing to do with the business world. After having taught high school Spanish and theatre, doing community theatre, being an officer in the U.S. Air Force, turning down a job offer with the CIA, and managing hotel and apartment complexes, I became a CPA specializing in tax law.
