Trading psychology: how to stop trading on impulse

Most big losses don't come from the strategy but from decisions made in the heat of the moment: chasing a move out of fear of missing it, hitting back after a stop or opening trades out of boredom.

The four most expensive traps

• FOMO: you enter late, with a wide stop and without your signal, because price is "running away".
• Revenge trading: after a loss you open another one right away, often bigger, to win it back.
• Overtrading: more trades than your plan gives, especially on days without clear setups.
• Moving the stop: you push the stop away to avoid taking the loss and turn a small loss into a big one.

Why it happens

Losing hurts more than winning the same amount feels good, so the brain tries to avoid the loss at any cost. Knowing it isn't enough: you need rules that decide for you when you're tilted.

Rules that cut the impulse

• Pre-trade checklist: if every condition of your setup isn't met, there's no trade.
• Maximum trades per day, decided before the session.
• Daily stop: after 2 losses in a row, you close the platform until tomorrow.
• Mandatory pause: 15 minutes away from the chart after every stop.
• Size is never changed during the session: it's decided the day before.

Put a price on your mistakes

What isn't measured gets repeated. Log how you felt on every trade and tag the mistake when you make it, even if the trade won.

Katanith shows you how much each mistake has cost you (FOMO, moving the stop, overtrading…) and which emotion goes with your worst results. Seeing "FOMO cost me 6R this month" convinces more than any resolution.

A simple routine

• Before: daily plan, news and levels.
• During: only setups from your checklist.
• After: log trades and mistakes in 5 minutes.
• On the weekend: weekly review with one concrete goal for the next week.