Yes go ahead and coddle yourself to avoid hurting your own psyche. That should help you trade better. /sarcasm off.
Seriously, if your psyche is so easily bruised that admitting to yourself that a particular trade was a complete and utter failure, then trading is probably not for you. Playing down failed trades in your own mind will not prevent you from making the same mistake again.
Anger, hostility and sarcasm towards one-self, does not help a trader become more successful. There is no coddle in admitting to an error in ones judgment. Emotion, has no place in a traders approach. cheers!
I did not say to get angry or hostile. There is a huge difference between being honest with yourself that a trade was a failure then doing root cause analysis as to why it failed; and being in denial, playing it down as just a little boo boo, minor error, etc. If it was a failure, then it was. Admit that, and figure out why and try to not do it again.
EDIT: Case in point: There is another thread here on ET right now where someone lost 27% of their account in one day (around $12,000 loss) and their response was "lol". That is what I am talking about.
EDIT: Case in point: There is another thread here on ET right now where someone lost 27% of their account in one day (around $12,000 loss) and their response was "lol". That is what I am talking about.