Regrets are fine to have as long as you act on them.
“I did exactly the wrong thing. The cotton showed me a loss and I kept it. The wheat showed me a profit and I sold it out. Of all the speculative blunders there are few greater than trying to average a losing game. Always sell what shows you a loss and keep what shows you a profit. “-Jesse Livermore
If you take a moment to look at what you regret specifically and look at your trading journal, you may be able to see exactly what you need to do to breakthrough and achieve the results you wanted in trading originally.
Let discuss the Common Regrets trader make
- Trading using Excessive Leverage
When you trade too large , you cannot keep your emotions in control and you act based on intuition which leads to bad trades and also lead to account blow off.
- Exiting the Trade as per system not waiting endlessly
Many traders keep holding the trade in anticipation it will turn in their favor, Out of 10 trades 3-4 trades can turn in your favor but the trades which do not turn are the one which causes major loss. Trust your system.
- Chasing a Trade
That one emotion is fear and traders fear not catching a move and fear closing out a trade and admitted a loss which is a normal part of trading. The best way to get rid of a fear in trading is to admit that you have control over your trades as to whether you get in and out and that you alone decide your trade size and stop amount while at the same time not fully knowing what tomorrow will bring.
- I wish I would have closed out once Stop loss was triggered as opposed to a 20% loss.
Traders who had a high win percentage but were unwilling to cut the few losers they had stood a worse chance of success than a newer trader with an inferior system that is willing to get out of a bad trade early.
Regrets Should Turn Into Your Trading Rules
Once you’ve clearly identified your top 3 regrets, you have something to work with. Specifically, you can turn the regrets into trading rules for long term success.
Very true!