No matter how experienced you are, trading losses are part of the process and everyone goes through them. A beginner might risk too much and lose it, and an experienced trader can spiral by over leveraging after one loss.
When a big loss happens there are a few things to keep in mind, and I am going to go over three of them.
Key takeaways
Every trader takes losses, from beginners to the most experienced, so it is part of the process rather than a sign you are broken.
Frustration, depression and hopelessness after a big loss are shared experiences, and they pass as time goes by and you reflect.
If you find the mistake and fix it, then in the big picture you have not really lost anything beyond the money.
Whatever the amount lost, the skill is what stays, and traders have bounced back and made more than they lost.
Large losses almost always trace back to poor risk management, not a single random losing trade.
It is far better to manage your risk from the start and avoid these situations than to bounce back from them.
First, let yourself feel it
After a big loss the feeling is terrible. You will be frustrated, depressed and feel hopeless in that moment.
The first thing to notice is that this is a shared experience. A lot of people feel exactly this when they go through trading losses, and it is just part of the process.
There is nothing you need to do to change it. You need to feel those emotions, and it can even work in your favour, because next time you remember it and tell yourself you do not want to feel that again.
Learn from it and it is not really a loss
If you take a loss, go back and find the mistake, whether it is risk management, your analysis, or something else. Most of the time, when it comes to large losses, it is risk management.
Once you have found that mistake and fixed it, it is not really a loss. Monetarily maybe, but in the big picture, no.
In short, if you lose money and you learn something from it, then you have not really lost anything. That is what helps you bounce back better and get better results.
“If you lose money and you learn something from it, then you have not really lost anything.”
You still have the skill
You took the leap and started, which a lot of people are too scared to do, and you are learning every day. That skill is what remains at the end of the day.
Traders have lost a thousand, ten thousand, even a hundred thousand and thought it was the end of the world. A couple of months later some bounced back and made more than they lost.
That said, it is much better to avoid these situations in the first place. Risk a half a percent or one percent per trade, and even ten losses in a row only costs you five or ten percent. Big losses come when you throw risk management out the window and try to go big.
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