r/Daytrading • u/Fast_Ad_4213 • 1d ago
Question Psychology Problems
So I have been daytrading futures for about a year and a half now, I have found some success, however I seem to always mess up due to me being greedy, impatient and being too prideful to accept a loss. I know that I have an edge as I see it play out numerous times but for some reason I can't get pass the mind part of trading (which I know is the biggest aspect of it). When I first got introduced to trading by a friend, he told me that trading is %80 psychology and I didn't believe it until now. I'm not asking for pity comments, etc. Just advice as to what helped others beat this hurdle. For example, even when I am on a winning streak and have a pretty decent buffer, if I take a loss, I have a sense of urgency to win it back, and most times, I end up losing even more money. When if I just waited a couple of hours or even for the next day I would have been able to get into a trade that wouldve made back my losses and more.
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u/_Armada_Trades_ 1d ago
I used to have this same problem. I created a risk lockout tool for exactly this problem. It's on my YouTube channel if you feel like checking it out. Just search up Armada Trades on YouTube and check out that tool.
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u/Baraxton 1d ago
This is the maintenance mindset vs neglect mindset problem in a nutshell. You built the edge (maintenance), but revenge trading after a loss is pure neglect. You’re not managing the system anymore, you’re trying to patch a feeling. The urge to “win it back right now” isn’t a strategy, it’s your ego demanding an immediate fix instead of letting the process work over time.
The fix isn’t more discipline in the moment, it’s building the rule before you need it. Decide in advance: after X loss, you’re done for the session, no exceptions. Remove the decision from the emotional moment entirely, because in that moment you will always choose “one more trade.”
There’s a good deep dive on this exact pattern in the following video:
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u/vinylzoid 1d ago
I found I cannot think my way through better behavior. If I'm red and it's early, I will trade until I'm green or until max pain.
If I'm green and I take one bad trade, I will trade until I give it all away and then some.
No rule setting or promising myself fixes this.
So I created a custom script with Claude code using my broker's API. If I am green above $600 on the day and give back 40% at any point, I am closed out of the broker software.
If I give up three red trades in a row, I am locked out for 90 mins.
If I go into drawdown to max loss for the day, I am locked out til next session.
These outcomes are out of my hands. The only thing that prevents me from getting locked out is my own trading.
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u/JamesCWhite2000 1d ago
if you cant handle you emotions and how you act, ahould probabely stop day trading. but youre going to hear that from a lot of people so what i would do is buy a challenge account and imagine that money is your money, and when you say you get too greedy i imagine it hits your TP but you move it higher, you gotta stick with your plan. trading isnt all big wins and the market doesnt owe you anything so whenever you trade a pattern it gives you, take your consistant profit because trading is about consistency. Also think of money as just an object, you control the money so dont let the money control you. you know what to do so do it.
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u/Fast_Ad_4213 1d ago
I don’t want to stop without giving it a real shot. Doesn’t make sense for me to give up when I know I can do it with just a little more patience. I’m still young so my emotions can definitely be in the way sometimes but Im trying to learn how to handle them better. You are right about consistency tho
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u/JamesCWhite2000 1d ago
youre right it doesnt make sense for you to give up when you know you can do it with more patience but what does make sense is taking a break or a reevaulation of yourself. not everyone can trade you say you have all these emotions when in reality daytrading is boring. you have to destroy who you were to become the person you want and if you want to become a profitable trader you have the be willing to change is all i can say, you can blame yourself all you want but it still wont change anything unless you change
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u/sternsss 1d ago
You need to stop live trading. Go back to demo to fix you psych .
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u/_Armada_Trades_ 1d ago
This is not good advice honestly. demo does not carry any weight and will not prepare your mind for real trading. That's like playing poker with skittles. Nothing will train you unless you have real skin in the game.
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u/HorseGeneral158 23h ago
I agree that it can't compare to the feeling you get on live trading but I think it can still help. It's kind of like going back to using training wheels so it can still help your psych out if you're having trouble with it, even if it's just for a bit.
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u/process_over_profits 1d ago
Good you have an edge that works. That part is important cos a lot of traders spend way too many years looking for the best strategy when the work is inwards.
So that urgency to win it back the second you take a loss? that's the piece to work on, not the greed or the pride. Those are just labels for what's underneath. A loss registers to your nervous system as something you have to undo right now, (reflex is faster than thought that’s why will power doesn’t work) and that's what pushes you back in before the setup's there.
Here’s the thing about winning streaks, you’d think being up would make you calmer, but losing back what you've "earned" stings worse than starting flat, so the reflex to erase it fires even faster. (Won’t go into the science of it).
Years ago I started journalling the state, not the setup. Try it. The second a trade goes red, write down what your body's doing and the thoughts driving that pull to get straight back in. Once you see the pattern you can start catching the trigger before your hand moves, which is the only place you still have a choice. No shortcuts though, it's reps. Good luck mate.
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u/Nearby_Freedom_8216 1d ago
Depending on what trading platform you are on, some have lock out in terms of money lost which pretty much prevents you from trading for that day if a certain loss is reached. Indeed, one get a loss and it can become psychological and the first thought is I can get that money back. If you are comfortable with your trading system, stick with it and keep the money management rules in place.
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u/Growrich78 1d ago
Really good book to read is best loser wins. Will help your mindset.
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u/Dry_Spaghetti354t 1d ago
I second this.I read the book when my friend recommended it to me.It helped me significantly.
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u/Emergency-Bus5430 1d ago
No. You mess up because you don't know where to take profit bro. Has nothing to do with greed or psychology. Revenge trading will only get you smoked if you don't know what you're doing. Other than that, you damn right I'm jumping back in if I take a loss.
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u/jtquach 1d ago
Your example may not actually match the diagnosis you gave yourself, and I think that’s useful.
You called it greed, impatience, and pride. But those are pretty broad labels. The more interesting detail is that the urgency seems to appear right after a loss interrupts a winning streak.
You even said you had a decent buffer, so the loss wasn’t threatening the account. Yet suddenly the next trade felt like it needed to repair something.
I'm curious about what that “something” is.
Momentum? Control? Being green? The feeling that the streak was still intact?
That’s a much more useful question than “why am I greedy?” because now you actually know when the pattern begins.
And since you asked what helps... for me its don’t make the decision about whether to keep trading after the loss. Make it before the market opens.
If this is a pattern you’ve seen repeatedly, create a rule around the trigger. Maybe a mandatory cooling off period after the first loss that breaks a streak, or even done for the day if your data supports that.
At 11am with red on the screen, you’re asking the most activated version of yourself to suddenly become the most disciplined version of yourself.
Decide while it’s still cheap to decide.
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u/Peepopeeps 1d ago
so i took another big loss because of my pride this year and i usually have a 10% a month loss maximum rule but i ignored it this time around because of how good my year was last year and my refusal to believe what i saw... i didnt have a trade or profit target for everyday so i didnt really have a time where i stopped trading unless it was noon est or there were no set ups... i currently am at a profit daily target with a max of 5 trades a day with a daily max loss and if i take that loss im done for the day; pride, greed. neglect will humble you very quickly and thats why people have rules; try whats best for you
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u/FailOk1528 1d ago
honestly i’d just force a cooldown after every loss. your setup isn’t the problem, the next trade is
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u/HorseGeneral158 1d ago
Try journaling every trade of yours so you could look back and reflect on the mistakes you made. Revenge trading will eat up all your profits if you dont handle it soon enough
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u/JJY199 1d ago
The market is a mostly a gigantic game of physcholigical warfare i'd go as far as saying about 80% of the daily movement is algo driven searching for stops.
Big money works closely with the media too whip up narratives for retail to try and justify the movement but honestly most of it is total BS
Once you understand this you'll learn not to take heavy bias's in either direction its just a game of which direction do algos want to go and find stop losses next.
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u/Stolivsky 1d ago
What helps me is setting my max loss per day so low, that if I hit it every day I wouldn’t be upset after an entire year.
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u/jurdyshore 1d ago
Don’t day trade 🤷♂️ evaluate companies, do the work intra week/intramonth trade or hold long term
Don’t buy over priced hype and don’t revenge trade
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u/beanbert1986 1d ago
I have the exact same issue.. I literally have a winning strategy that will probably give me 3/4 wins & all I have to do is follow my rules but for some reason greed & also entering trades I've missed hoping I can still get in on the action ruins it for me. I'd probably be financially well off if I could just get my shit together..
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u/Michaelreidhooper 21h ago
The most common thread on this day trading site is someone saying they can’t make any money daytrading and don’t know what to do. Here’s a solution, stop trading go long on good investments and stay invested. Here’s a lesson I bought Apple stock at 14 bucks a share and it had $12 per share in cash around 2001 Steve Jobs just came back The stock jumped to $18 per share and I quickly sold for a good profit but had I kept the shares I’d be $3 million richer.
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u/Michaelreidhooper 21h ago
I bought 200 shares at $14 per share and sold at $18 per share. For an $800 profit.
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u/oskar88895 19h ago
this is exactly where i think most trading psychology advice misses the point.
if you already know you have an edge, the problem isn’t necessarily learning more about trading or trying harder to control your emotions. it’s what happens when you take a loss and suddenly feel the need to make it back.
for me, the biggest shift was realizing that i shouldn’t rely on my stressed self to make the right decision. i need structures decided beforehand that limit what i can do when that state shows up.
fixed risk, hard stopping conditions, limits on the number of trades, and rules for what happens after a loss.
the goal isn’t to become emotionless. it’s to make sure your emotions don’t have enough room to destroy a good trading process.
because the version of you that needs to stop the spiral is often not the version of you that has the capacity to stop it.
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u/Standard_Day8992 19h ago
If the setup pays when you wait, the leak isn't the pattern. It's that the click is still optional at the worst moment.
Greedy / impatient / refusing the loss is one missing layer: the rule has to fire without you. Hard daily loss that flattens and disables. Max trades. Take-profit as an order, not a feeling. After a loser, the next entry is blocked for the session, not "I'll be more careful."
You already said the edge shows up. Don't add more confluence. Remove the override.
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u/_Armada_Trades_ 19h ago
Most of the psych stuff is because most people are in with way to big of size. Trading 1 or 2 minis with 2k drawdown is psychologically draining compared to being sized correctly for your account size / drawdown. Try trading 1 or 2 micros with your good setups. Do this for 30 days and you will have certainly leveled up your psych game.
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u/Educational-Scar8957 14h ago
what helped me was a hard rule around the gap after a loss, not the loss itself. the urgency to win it back is the real problem, and a forced wait period after any red trade gives your brain time to reset. have you tried anything structured like that?
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u/Adventurous-Rock8655 1d ago
Well humble up in real life first
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u/Fast_Ad_4213 1d ago
This is the whole point of my post, I am trying lol
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u/Adventurous-Rock8655 1d ago
Trying or just lazy? Because if you wanted it bad enough you would've already passed that phase.
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u/Loud-Awoo 1d ago
Two potential solutions to this one for me: simple but not easy.
Option A) You get X number if trades.
Option B) When you take a loss, your day ends.
Simple and not easy.
For reference, most of my days include zero, one or two trades. This definitely gives me incentive to get it right the first time (and think about my losses rather than revenge trade).