Top Three Trading Mistakes — and How to Avoid Them

Most traders don’t blow up because of one catastrophic day. They leak edge through a thousand small improvisations — taking a trade outside the plan, moving a stop “just this once”, scaling risk when they feel lucky. All three mistakes share the same root: a lack of defined process.

When you treat every session as a fresh experiment, you destroy the feedback loop needed for improvement. Markets reward statistical discipline, not bravado.

If a system can’t be described in “if → then → else” form, it isn’t a system. Undefined inputs create undefined outputs. The fix is ruthless documentation: name your bias filters, specify the market states that trigger a setup, define the exact triggers — and write them down.

Action: Convert your favorite setup into code comments. If it can be coded, it can be executed consistently.

Sizing trades because the setup “looks strong today” is just leverage wrapped in emotion. Professional desks size in risk units. 1% risk per trade means the loss is defined before the entry; performance can be measured against expectancy. Feelings don’t scale — risk units do.

Action: Track every trade in risk units (R). A win is +2R or +3R; a loss is -1R. The fog lifts once everything speaks the same language.

Average traders respond to drawdown by inventing a new strategy. Professionals refine parameters, not philosophy. If your edge loses ten trades in a row, the question is: which pillar cracked? Bias? Signal? Management? Fix that component, don’t burn the whole factory.

Action: Preserve the core logic. Adjust stop distance, session filter, volatility thresholds — one lever at a time.

Define → Measure → Refine. Every trading mistake is rooted in skipping one of these steps. Lock them in and the “Top Three Mistakes” become your three daily checkpoints before clicking anything.