Impatience, how does it cause you to lose money?

① The culprit of chasing highs and selling lows: Seeing the market start to move, fearing to miss out, you ignore your plan and chase the price higher, ending up buying at the peak; seeing a downturn, you panic and cut losses, ending up selling at the bottom. Impatience makes you a "contrarian indicator" in the market.
The nemesis of planning: You have carefully formulated a trading strategy, set the entry and stop-loss points. But with even a slight fluctuation in price, impatience can lead you to act prematurely or adjust your stop-loss, ultimately rendering the plan meaningless.
The principal erosion machine: When there are no orders in hand, it's hard to resist the urge, always feeling that not trading means missing out on opportunities. Thus, in those ambiguous situations that do not conform to one's system, positions are forcefully opened. The result is frequent payment of fees and spreads, causing the principal to be unknowingly eroded away.
So, how can we cultivate a state of equanimity?
1. Trust the system, embrace waiting: Establish and strictly adhere to a trading system. Most of the time, the market is experiencing ineffective fluctuations, and real opportunities require patient waiting. Accepting this "boredom" is a prerequisite for profit.
2. Manage your positions and relax your mindset: The size of your position determines your mindset. If every fluctuation makes your heart race, it indicates that your position is too heavy. With a light position, you can see more clearly and go further.
3. The process is more important than the result: Don't get caught up in individual gains and losses, but focus on "Did I execute the plan?" As long as the process is correct, good results will naturally emerge in the long run.
4. Don't be afraid of missing out, protect your principal: "The market is always full of opportunities, but the principal is limited." If you miss an opportunity, the market will still be open tomorrow. However, if you lose your principal due to impatience, you lose your eligibility to participate in the game.
Remember that in the market, your ultimate opponent is yourself. Successful trading does not rely on precise predictions but on decisively cutting losses when mistakes happen and patiently holding when the outlook is right. When you can overcome your inner anxiety and calmly view the fluctuations, the rewards the market brings you will naturally arrive as expected.