The four most expensive emotions

Every trader has a default mistake. The expensive part is that it usually feels like a good idea at the time.

The four, and what they look like

• Revenge. Entering within minutes of a stop-out, to "make it back". Sizing jumps.
• FOMO. Buying a name that already moved, with no pullback and no stop planned.
• Greed. Not taking profit at your target, then watching it round-trip.
• Boredom. Trading a quiet session because nothing is happening — the most underrated one.

The one question that helps

It will not always stop you. It does create a pause, and a pause is usually enough to check whether the plan actually gave you a signal.

Make it measurable

Tag every trade with the emotion in the journal, then sort P&L by emotion in the review tool. Almost everyone finds one tag that eats most of the losses. You cannot fix what you cannot see — and this makes it visible.

Then build the mechanism

Rules are easier to follow than feelings. Set your limits in advance in the risk manager so the decision is already made when the emotion arrives.