Real-Life Decision Making -- Solution
You decline the project because of the price.
That summer, you make more money than the lobster project would have paid. You think you made the right decision.
However, later in the year you see an article about a sculptor you know. She accepted the lobster project, and is getting a lot of attention. As the years pass, that one project leads to more and bigger projects for her.
She saw the project for the opportunity it was. By investing her time in the short term, she boosted her career in the long term. She's now making a good living, while you're scraping by -- and it's all thanks to a silly lobster!
In a similar situation, sculptor Rick Silas took the job. "When I originally took the project on, a lot of my sculptor friends said, 'You're crazy to do such a huge project for $2,000,'" Silas says. "Looking back on it, I'm far more successful than all those people that, back in those days, said I was crazy for doing it."