When I first started trading, I would set a stop loss, go about my day, and only check my trades every few hours, because I had a full-time job. I was able to hold my trades until I got stopped out. I lost my job in January and have been looking for another one but am trading full-time meanwhile until I can find another job. I have been struggling like crazy to hold onto my trades and let them work themselves out. I keep choking them off way too early. I looked over my stats and redid it to see what would have happened if I held on until my stop hits. The results were a little better, the losses a little bigger but the wins also bigger. May would have been my best month, 50% win rate, 2.42RR instead of my actual stats, 45% win, .94RR. Yeah, there were some instances where I was better off if I cut the trade early but it seems like this has been a bad habit for me and it’s negatively affecting my trading. In fact, I don’t think I should trade again until I can fix this, because I’m going through a string of losses and dying by a thousand paper cuts.
I seem to have many excuses when I cut the trade early, ie: it’s not ready yet, I’m going to wait until x happens, not enough volume, I’d rather take a small loss now than a bigger one later, etc. But when I look back, I can see that the entry was good and I should have held on. If it isn’t taking off right away, I start to get nervous and get out. A lot of times, I’d rather it stop me out quickly than to have to hold on to anticipate it. I’ve tried swing trading and day trading, and I have the same problem with all time frames. I’m hoping that I can get a job and it can help take my mind off my trades so I can let them do their thing. I’ve tried to not look at my trades but I seem to not be able to help it since I’m in front of my computer a lot.
Does anybody have any advice on how I can stick with my trades until my stop or TP hits?