My biggest weakness is overtrading. What I mean by that is say for example, having the patience for a setup, taking a trade, trade going bad and then going back into the market without a proper setup trying to make up for the loss. It is like the anguish of a loss and not being right would make me just want to get the money back with taking other trades without a proper setup.

Really this is just about having patience, accepting the loss... trade didn't work out, thus wait for the next setup.

* Note, this was the reason for failing at trading prior... but I imagine other traders have done the same. My trading plan I have today has helped me to stick to sitting on my hands and waiting for a proper setup.

... it's just that I'm a habitually mean reversal trader, I often find myself in a trade which is against the trend and against my own created system signal. My mates used to call me "bearish" trader (Indian markets have been in perpetual bull run for a long time), funny enough I was even catching some good reversals, but it was probably a bad thing in long term. Have lost a lot after initial success as my ego was stoked the wrong way due to this.

This is one of the more interesting polls I've seen lately here - Thanks!!
I think the top-voted answer ("losers out of control") is worth discussing in a little more depth, with the hope of maybe helping some traders overcome this problem.

As someone who regularly works with traders on overcoming mindset-related barriers, this problem is a VERY REAL issue for many traders (as the poll clearly demonstrates). Unlike many other mindset-related trading problems, which are often driven by a mix of technical and emotional issues, this one is 100% emotional (we all know what we need to do to limit losses, but when push comes to shove we can't seem to do it). As a result, this issue also often triggers quite a handful of guilt, self-criticism, disheartenment etc. - which is usually not productive to solving it.

First things first: there is no such thing as "losers out of control". The only thing out of control is the person putting on the trades. A more accurate description of this problem would be "losing control of myself when I lose".

What causes traders to lose control? Or more importantly - "Why do I lose control when I lose money"? There's a different answer for every trader, and if you want to stop losing control in trading, you first need to find out what triggers YOU.

Here's a simple approach you can try. It's not a magic fix, and it does require some level of self-awareness and inner listening to do this on your own, but it can open you to an entirely different framing of our situation and become the first step in solving the problem.

Instead of focusing on LOSING control, reverse your point of view. You see, every "negative" behavior we have in the market is actually an automatic response of our mind that is trying to achieve some internal, often subconscious motivation. So instead of focusing on the loss, let's try to figure out the hidden motivation for this behavior.
Very honestly, and very openly, ask yourself the following two questions:
1. What am I GAINING from this behavior? What emotional need is fulfilled when I trade past my loss limit point?
2. What is this behavior PROTECTING ME from? What would I have to face/accept (that I want to avoid) if I were to stop trading at my loss limit?

Quick examples - all from actual traders' experiences:
1. You could be GAINING excitement, a feeling of breaking free from limiting rules, or a chance to hide/redeem your previous errors.
2. You could be PROTECTING yourself from the pain of loss, from the ridicule of your spouse, or from the facing the fact that you need to finally grow up and be more responsible.

You may go through several answers, but one of them will feel a "click" inside you. This is also the one that will likely touch on an issue that tends to show up in other areas of your life as well.

Once you've got that - now at least you know what you're dealing with. Your problem is no longer "losing control" - but rather finding a better way to deal with the real need while keeping your losses under control.

Rather than beating yourself up, or struggling endlessly with your discipline, you can look the real problem in the eye - and work to overcome the root cause. Once it's resolved (at the deep level, not just superficially), the loss pattern tends to diminish on its own.

Hope this helps!

My actual single biggest weakness is the opposite of "Losers get out of control " and was not even on the poll.

I don't have any problems with cutting losers as either I have a max loss stop or if one of the criteria for putting on a trade changes then I stop out. I don't even give it a second thought.

My issue is in letting winners run on for too long.

I put on a lot of trades that go 1 or 2R in my favor and then turn around and stop me out for breakeven.

It's not a question of putting my stops further away because the farther away your stop the bigger the market move to make 1R.

In my formative years of trading I really integrated cutting your losses and letting your profits run that I find it hard to take profits early.

I just want to add that this only applies to trades that initially go between 1&2 R in my favor and then reverse.

So on to the questions:

1. What am I GAINING from this behavior? What emotional need is fulfilled when I trade let my profits run?

That's how you are supposed to trade.

2. What is this behavior PROTECTING ME from? What would I have to face/accept (that I want to avoid) if I were to stop letting your profits run?

I would not be following my trading rules.



Any suggestions welcome.

Well if you are profitable than allowing smaller wins to fail at breakeven and letting the large winners run is just the cost of doing business.

However if not profitable changing your approach to capture 1R and 2R and stop hunting the huge winners could be the productive change in negative behavior.

If you don't bet, you can't win.