Update 4/15:
I bought a position this morning, more shares than usual lately (to tackle this head on, but still an appropriate amount), and it went against me fairly quickly. I set a stop, far enough away to account for reasonable volatility and said I'd wait an hour, no matter what.
The position went 1/2 way to the stop and 'voices' went through my head, 'sell now...it's a lot cheaper loss than getting stopped out...' I considered leaving my desk for the remainder but waited, even tho I was losing all confidence. It started to rally and after the hour I made myself wait, I sold the position for a small profit.
The rest of the day had a few minor gains, no losses. The difficult regrets were the ones I didn't get into by waiting for things to be perfect, but..."forgive myself, forgive myself"...and plan attack them next time.
My trading approach isn't necessarily to wait an hour after each trade, but it's what I plan to implement on 'good' positions I take that don't reward right away, until I overcome this.
Overall I'm proud of not getting out of the first position early, whether it would have become a losser or not. Small steps.
I bought a position this morning, more shares than usual lately (to tackle this head on, but still an appropriate amount), and it went against me fairly quickly. I set a stop, far enough away to account for reasonable volatility and said I'd wait an hour, no matter what.
The position went 1/2 way to the stop and 'voices' went through my head, 'sell now...it's a lot cheaper loss than getting stopped out...' I considered leaving my desk for the remainder but waited, even tho I was losing all confidence. It started to rally and after the hour I made myself wait, I sold the position for a small profit.
The rest of the day had a few minor gains, no losses. The difficult regrets were the ones I didn't get into by waiting for things to be perfect, but..."forgive myself, forgive myself"...and plan attack them next time.
My trading approach isn't necessarily to wait an hour after each trade, but it's what I plan to implement on 'good' positions I take that don't reward right away, until I overcome this.
Overall I'm proud of not getting out of the first position early, whether it would have become a losser or not. Small steps.