Trying to win it back
The loss you refuse to accept
You lose $500. The urge is immediate: get it back, now, with a bigger trade. This is revenge trading and it's how a bad day becomes a ruinous one.
The market doesn't know you
It has no memory of your last trade and no obligation to make you whole. Each trade stands alone. Sizing up because you're behind is sizing up on emotion.
The fix is mechanical
Decide in advance how many trades you'll take in a session, and stop when you hit it. Not when you feel finished — feelings are the thing you're protecting yourself from.
Check yourself
You've just taken two losses. What's the disciplined response?
- Double the next stake to recover faster
- Keep your normal size, or stop for the day
- Switch to a more volatile coin
Show the answer
Keep your normal size, or stop for the day — Changing size because of recent results is emotion, not strategy. The next trade's odds are unaffected by the last two.