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We have all been there. You analyze a trade setup. You know how much you're going to risk on a trade. You enter the trade just to come back to your chart and find you've been stopped out of the trade.
It's not fun. It sucks. You thought the setup would work because you followed your rules. The thing is, the market is the market.
In the early stages of my trading career, I hated being stopped out. My reasoning was because I had no idea how to make up for my loss.
I thought if I plotted more lines and levels on my chart, I could enter the trade again and make my money back.
The problem I kept running into was I had no idea why I lost the trade or how to handle my feelings. I also had no real plan to adjust to the price change.
I honestly thought my levels or trend lines didn't work. But it was more profound than that.
What changed?
I had to change how I viewed the market and my next steps to recover my loss. Not only that, I had to learn how to be "ok" without losing money.
I created a 3 Step Process that would increase my probability of winning my next trade. Because we are a trading family, I thought I'd share it with you.
Step 1: Access my previous trade
You hear this all the time, "I made a mistake; that's why I lost the trade." The actual question is, did you make a mistake, or did you follow your trading rules?
When I follow my rules, no mistakes are made. However, when I lose a trade, that can mean one thing. The market reversed. This leads me to step 2.
Step 2: Change my bias
In the book The Unknown Market Wizards by Jack Schwager, I heard the most beautiful and profound statement by one of the wizard traders. He said, "I realized I have a right to change my mind about my trade at any time."
I can't tell you how that made me feel. Of course, I've been doing that all along, but this market wizard summed up my actions in just one sentence.
When I'm stopped out, that means I have to change my mind about the direction of the trade. I made being stopped out so simple so I won't confuse the following action I should take. That leads me to step 3, update my chart and adapt to the new price movement.
Step 3: Update and Adapt
I have a no-nonsense rule, and that is to stop trading in 1 direction if I'm stopped out. Go opposite. I'm a genuine trend trader. I don't naturally trade against the trend. It gets me in trouble.
So at the first sign of trouble, I adapt.
See, USDCHF was in a downtrend.
I sold the trade at 0.92835( sell limit), and overnight I was stopped. It happened so fast, and just as quickly as I was stopped, I knew I had to become the buyer.
My Mental
In the recent past, being stopped out would have spooked me. Now, it's making me want to return to the charts to face my fear. I used to have a fear of success and failure. Now I have a hunger to want to succeed and learn.
Since I've begun working with pending orders, putting on trades is a bit more fun. They challenge me. Especially in situations when the price reverses and I am stopped out.
I pray you gained new insight and a key takeaway on what you can do next after you lose a trade.
Just remember, losing a trade doesn't make you a loser. It makes you a trader.
What Happened Over The Weekend?
I bought in the new year with my family and hosted a 2023 Watchlist Party, where I shared the trades I plan to take this month. This is the perfect time to analyze and profit plan for the beginning of the year. You can see the video on my Youtube channel if you missed it.
Oh! By the way, I changed my Youtube name to Shaquan Lopez. Yeah, my name. I hope it makes you feel a bit closer to me.
Comment down below what your takeaway was. I'd appreciate it if you could like the post. Much love,
Shaquan