It was a Wednesday.
Not a crash. Not breaking news. Just… Wednesday.
I remember staring at my screen as one red candle erased weeks of confidence in minutes. The setup was clean. The analysis made sense. Nothing about the market had changed.
But my account was bleeding.
Down 27%.
Then 34%.
And I told myself the most dangerous lie in trading:
“Let me just hold. It’ll bounce.”
By nightfall, I was down over 60%.
That trade didn’t fail because my strategy was wrong.
It failed because my position size was disrespectful to risk.
And deep down, I knew it.
A losing trade doesn’t mean you’re a bad trader. But a trade that hurts emotionally is proof your risk was wrong.
Markets don’t destroy accounts, oversized positions do. In crypto, -20% to -30% moves are normal. If one candle can shake your confidence, your position size is already violating discipline.
Lesson 1: The Trade Didn’t Fail, My Risk Did
Takeaway:
Your strategy should never need hope to survive.
If a loss feels personal, you risked too much.