What if there were second chances?
The solution is simple.
Go back in time and get your trades back.
Wait sorry, that’s not possible and that was a bad joke. But imagine if!? The point is the first step to losing money in trading is to just get over it. To start moving forward. Have a laugh. Think about the future. Start planning the steps to make it back. Build a system.
Accept the loss and move on with an understanding of how it happened and what can be done to avoid it. This is literally all you can do at this stage.
There’s one important thing everyone needs to remember: it happens to everyone.
There is no such thing as a trader who wins all the time. There is no such thing as a trading strategy that never loses. You only really become a great trader (or investor) when you finally realize that losses are part of the game.
In your early days, taking loses is hard. For example, many new market participants join in their early 20s. This is when the ego is strongest and people feel most courageous. Often times attitudes like “I’m smarter than everyone” or “This is too easy” come to mind. Over time, this attitude gets flat out destroyed.
The market will have its way.
So if you found yourself here trying to think about the money you lost, know this: you aren’t the first person to lose money trading. You won’t be the last.
What next steps should you take? Here’s a checklist:
- Is trading for you? Seriously. Ask yourself that. Because the quicker you realize it’s not for you, the time and mental energy you will save. Get out now.
- What’s next? If trading is something you want to pursue, you will need to devise a plan for the next stages. You’ve clearly lost too much and need to restart.
- Do you have a plan? The key now is to build a plan and systemize it as much as possible. Set rules for yourself and never break those rules. For example: I will no long use margin. Or another example: If I’m ever losing 10% on a single trade, I will close it and move on before it gets worse.
Good luck.