GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!!

Written and contributed by Cynthia Sarver, Successful Options Trader of the Month

A friend of mine was a professional dancer, now retired.  She danced internationally, in large productions in New York, on big stages in Las Vegas.  She’s totally and completely amazing.  To this day, she has an enormous amount of grace and poise even when she’s simply walking that I envy.   Yet for all of this, she told me that for years she considered herself a failure because she wasn’t a BALLET dancer.

A failure.  This is a woman who danced in shows where she beat out hundreds, if not thousands of other people for her spot.  She had a career that people dream about but few are able to attain, and yet for a long time, she thought she was a failure.

My first reaction was to scoff and think how silly that was.  A failure?  It’s obvious that she was a HUGE SUCCESS.

Then I realized that I had a similar twinge of self-doubt about trading.  I see some fantastic trades that others are doing that I don’t even entirely understand.  Sometimes I don’t do as well in a particular month as someone else.  At the New Hampshire APM² class, I was rather overwhelmed and intimidated by the vast amount of knowledge that the other traders seemed to have and wondered if I’d ever get to that level.  Heck, when John told me I was the “Successful Options Trader of the Month,” my first response was, “Um, are you sure you have the right ‘Cynthia’?”.

I’m starting to realize, however, that my definition of “success” has to be mine and mine alone.  After all, my goals are specific to ME, which means that the way I chose to meet them is specific to ME, which means my results will be… well, you get it.  SO WHAT if someone else made more money than I did this month?  I may smoke them next month… or not.  In fact, I may never do as “well” because I’m off dancing burlesque with my red feather boa and not watching the market at all because that’s part of my goals.

Well, they’re mine right now.  Goals can change over time as life changes.  My friend changed from being a ballet dancer to being a show dancer for her own reasons.  Perhaps you really wanted to become a hedge fund manager but you’re “just” managing your family’s portfolio well.  Or your goal was to double your money every year but you “only” make a solid 30% annually.  Maybe you wanted to be a day trader but instead, you’re rockin’ the ROCK.

It’s important to have goals.  It’s great to work hard for those goals and try to make them come true.  Sometimes, though, despite your best efforts, you fall short.

Perhaps you just didn’t care enough.  Perhaps you found a different path along the way that was more interesting.  Perhaps you outgrew your dream.  Perhaps you lost your way and the path was left behind.  Perhaps it conflicted with another goal and you had to make a choice.  Perhaps it was illusory to begin with.

Or perhaps you took a hard look and realized that while those ballet slippers never made it on stage, those high-heeled dance shoes, glittering costumes, and FABULOUS headdresses DID… and that’s SUCCESS!

Written and contributed by Cynthia Sarver, Successful Options Trader of the Month