How to get over the need to be right

[t3rog 0]

Hello all,

I have noticed that my biggest loses have come from stocks that I can’t seem to accept that I was wrong on. In my head I have thoughts like “it’s so overextended it must pull-back here” or “this time it will bounce”.  Usually if I take a stop out I can move on, but it’s the stocks that power trend all day that get to me. I continue to enter and get stopped out over and over again. I blow past my daily max loss and think “if this next trade works I’ll be back to even”. I know these are all the wrong thought processes. I believe that it’s a deep down psychological issue where it’s very hard for me to accept that I am wrong at times. Has anyone experienced this before and overcome it? I set new rules for myself each time and they work for a few weeks or so until boom it happens again. 

[t3rog 0]

Thank you for the very detailed answer. I think I will incorporate a new rule of max 2 attempts on a stock, then can’t look at it for the rest of the day. If I look at it I’m not allowed to trade for the rest of that day. I will also keep a typed up document on my desk going through the logic behind the problem like you mentioned. Lastly I want to add some affirmations into my daily routine centered around this problem. Ones like “I don’t have to be right to make money in the markets”, “trading is a game of statistical probability, the best set-ups can fail and the worst set-up can work”, and “you are only one bad trade from being kicked out of this business, always manage your risk”. Hopefully some of these techniques can train my unconscious mind to truly believe that breaking my rules is hurting my account.