JR's Play of the Day: Are you winning the right game?

When I was coaching little league baseball, during the regular season I always tried to rotate my kids around so that they developed some proficiency at 2 or 3 positions. I would do this rotation regardless of the game situation. We were in a tight game one time and I had most of my "B" infield in the lineup in the last inning and I had a couple parents tell me that if we put the "A" players back in we'd probably win the game.

Winning that game would have been nice, but would I have been winning the right game? My bigger goal was to develop the kids and have a well-rounded team that was ready for the tournament. If I'd taken those "B" kids out of the game, what message would that have sent them? It also would have taken away the experience of playing in a tight ball game which always generates a little pressure. With those thoughts in mind, I left the "B" lineup in the game.

This lesson applies in many parts of our lives as we might focus on a short term win at the expense of our longer term success. In the corporate world, a company I was with would always push through some ugly sales deals at the end of the quarter, just to make our quarterly numbers look good. Then we'd spend months cleaning up those bad deals. What game did we win?

I know people who like the adrenaline of being the hero at work, staying late all the time and saving projects from the brink of disaster. They get lots of accolades, which can be addicting, but these later hours on a consistent basis are causing them to miss family time, special events and time for fitness or renewal. What game are they winning?

As you know, I'm a big fan of winning. I was thrilled that we beat the market again this month and our account balances grew. The market can also be addicting. We can read about it constantly as everyone in the world has opinions. We can try an endless number of strategies. We can watch the charts all day long. Making money off the market could take us away from some of the other important "games" in our lives. That is why I love the SPX credit spread strategy. We win consistently, but it doesn't require a huge amount of time or stress. We make money while still enjoying time with family, doing hobbies, working our day jobs, or just getting some much needed relaxation time. We are winning the right game.