Trading psychology and keeping a journal
FOMO, revenge trading and overconfidence, and the simple habit that fixes most of them.
Most traders know what to do. The hard part is doing it consistently when money is on the line. Three emotions cause most of the damage.
The big three
FOMO (fear of missing out): chasing a move that already happened, entering late with a bad stop. Fix: if you missed the entry, you missed the trade. There is always another one.
Revenge trading: after a loss, jumping into another trade to "win it back". Fix: set a daily loss limit (for example 3R) and stop for the day when you hit it.
Overconfidence: after a winning streak, doubling position size. Fix: keep risk per trade fixed, no matter how sure you feel.
Why a journal works
Memory is biased: we remember the brilliant wins and forget the sloppy losses. A journal shows the truth. Log every trade with the setup, why you took it, a screenshot and how you felt. After 30 trades, patterns appear: maybe you lose most on Fridays, or on counter-trend trades, or after two wins in a row.
Greenback Terminal has a free, private trading journal that calculates your win rate, profit factor, average R and equity curve automatically.
Educational content only, not financial advice. Trading involves risk of loss.