Able to trade small accounts successfully but fail when account size is large

A

addminuslast

I've traded a few small accounts successfully in the past, then I scale up into 5 figure accounts, which always turns bad.

I know psychology is affecting me, for e.g. when I lose a few trades on large accounts, I would think what I could have bought or what if I just went out and didn't trade, I could have bought XXX or saved $X by doing so.

However, after always losing my large account, i would take a break and come back trading a small account, and I am always successful.

What advice could you give? Slowly scale up bit by bit instead of switching immediately?
 
The Mental Game of Trading: A System for Solving Problems with Greed, Fear, Anger, Confidence, and Discipline by Jared Tendler

https://u1lib.org/book/17133450/b73d82

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addminuslast said:
What advice could you give? Slowly scale up bit by bit instead of switching immediately?
More...

1. In general you want to test your proposed strategies in sim.

2. If you think you've got a winner, trade real money.. but small. As a minimum you could trade a 1-lot in the MES. This will be an important time. You'll feel the emotions of risk/reward and learn about yourself regarding coping with money pressure and discipline. Some of it is "learning the market". Some of it is also "learning yourself".

3. When you've successfully "traded small", trade somewhat bigger for a while. Pay particular attention to how differently you feel and cope cope with risk/reward and discipline when the money is "more meaningful" to you.... compared to when you "traded small" or sim. Keep scaling up on the back of your prior success.

I know you want to "get rich soon"... we all do/did. What's more likely is that it's going to be a longer time with more hurdles to overcome than you envisioned.

You don't need to get rich "right away"... you DO need to learn to trade well. If you can get that down, the sky is the limit! :)
 
addminuslast said:
I've traded a few small accounts successfully in the past, then I scale up into 5 figure accounts, which always turns bad.

I know psychology is affecting me, for e.g. when I lose a few trades on large accounts, I would think what I could have bought or what if I just went out and didn't trade, I could have bought XXX or saved $X by doing so.

However, after always losing my large account, i would take a break and come back trading a small account, and I am always successful.

What advice could you give? Slowly scale up bit by bit instead of switching immediately?
More...
You need first to find why you are failing with a 5 figure account and not with a small account. Not sure what type of instrument you are trading, but for some, a 5 figure account is not considered as a big account.
Some potential reasons why your results differ:
- Psychological (fear of losing or other)
- Discipline
- System not scalable

Only you will be able to do that exercise.
 
addminuslast said:
I've traded a few small accounts successfully in the past, then I scale up into 5 figure accounts, which always turns bad.

I know psychology is affecting me, for e.g. when I lose a few trades on large accounts, I would think what I could have bought or what if I just went out and didn't trade, I could have bought XXX or saved $X by doing so.

However, after always losing my large account, i would take a break and come back trading a small account, and I am always successful.

What advice could you give? Slowly scale up bit by bit instead of switching immediately?
More...

you posted it in the correct forum

your subconscious mind (which AUTOMATICALLY generate fear when you handle too large a position)
is causing havoc.

You cannot bash / smash your brain to fix it.

so go and do mind exercise / cleansing / reprogramming (or-whatever-you-call-it)

eg
mindful meditation
chakra
tapping meridian points
psycho-cybernectics
pray (to diety or whatever)
retreat in Tibet / Myanmar / Nepal / Thailand ... Buddhist temple
(this was popular before the covid things)
etc



you have to try various mind things and see which suits you.



ooooooohhhhhhmmmmmmm .....

Amitabha / peace be with you or whatever
 
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