I’ve been thinking about something interesting in trading psychology.
A trader can spend hours creating a trading plan:
Entry → SL → target → risk → position size.
Everything looks perfectly logical before entering.
But once the position is live, the same trader may start moving the SL, watching every candle, taking an early exit, adding to a losing position, or taking another trade after a loss.
So the problem isn’t always lack of knowledge.
Sometimes the real gap is between knowing the rule and executing the rule when emotions are involved.
I’m curious what other traders have experienced:
What’s the one rule you know you should follow but repeatedly break once you’re actually in a trade?
It’s always a mind game played by our mind..let’s say you had a problem taking and having too much spice and masala…and you knew that you have to avoid
But when you see a spicy food when you are hungry obviously, you have cravings for that food and enjoys it as you usually as you do since childhood and later you realise, i made a mistake taking that food because you are bearing the consequences of having it… This is when discipline (which is nothing but a painful act) comes in and says,"when you want to do something out of discipline, that’s the exact moment you have to stop doing it or else the consequences are huge later ". As it is painful to avoid and control at that current moment of time you break the rules and mind seeks that which is called a cheap dopamine…
The same applies to every decisions in our lives not only in investments.
When you continuosly break the rules , This would become a dangerous self reinforcing cycle that would satisfy at that current moment (cheap dopamine) but collapses your confidence later and fear takes over and you become paralyse…
I saw this everywhere in my life…right from the childhood it started with my thinking and doing things where they failed multiple times because of no discipline…and currently I am still experiencing it ( as we are humans filled with emotions we can’t overcome but we have to fail few times and be disciplined more ) and this is what I am trying to do..
To your question,
In particularly investments, I saw this when I day trade when I come up with an understanding i don’t let it fully play out (which is discipline) when I see a small price advantage i close the trade with a small profit or when price retraces I book loss …and also late entries and early exits breaking the rules of the game as I observed it and started improving it…
The hardest part of trading isn’t really knowing the rules, it’s actually sticking to them when you’re in the trade.
Before entering, everything seems pretty clear where the stop goes, where to take profit, how much to risk, etc. But once you’re actually in the position and the price starts moving against you, it’s easy to start thinking “maybe I should give it a little more room” or “I’ll just take profit here.”
I think a lot of rule-breaking comes from not wanting to accept the outcome of the trade. Moving the SL, closing early, revenge trading after a loss they can all feel like ways of getting back in control.
And sometimes changing the plan is actually justified if the market invalidates the original idea. The tricky part is knowing whether you’re making a rational adjustment or just making an emotional decision because you don’t want to take the loss.
That’s probably where trading psychology matters the most. It’s one thing to know what you should do, and another thing to actually do it when money is on the line.
Poor Psychology & bad mindset , basic fundamental reason.
Retail traders enter trade with profit expectation & end up in losses & this cycle will continue irrespective of traders skill, experience or fund size.
IMO retail traders real opponent is his own mind, it’s REAL Blind Spot they miss to recognize leading to years of struggle & reason for account blow out.
This is a very interesting way of looking at it. I especially relate to what you said about taking a small profit or booking a loss when the trade hasn’t actually played out according to the original plan.
I think that’s where I’ve started seeing a difference between having a trading plan and having a trading process.
Before entering, it’s easy to be rational because there is no money at risk yet. Once you’re in the position, every tick suddenly feels important and the temptation to “do something” becomes much stronger.
One thing I’ve been trying to understand in my own trading is what exactly triggers the rule-breaking.
Is it the size of the position?
Seeing the P&L move against you?
A previous losing trade?
Or simply watching every candle?
Because if we can identify the trigger, perhaps the solution isn’t just “be more disciplined” — we can actually change the process around the trade.
That’s something I’m experimenting with myself. Still a work in progress.
IMO, “Entry → SL → target → risk → position size” is incomplete. I’ve seen quite a few cases where stocks move up or down on relatively low volume. If you strictly follow the rules in such a situation, then…
