Why was the first time you held onto a losing position and turned it into a profit possibly the most expensive victory of your trading career? When I first started trading futures, I had a long position that dropped below my stop-loss level, but I couldn’t bring myself to exit. Instead of cutting my loss, I kept adding to the position—until the market suddenly reversed, and somehow, I turned a loss into a profit. That win taught me not reverence, but侥幸 (false hope). From then on, whenever I made a wrong trade, I’d recall that reversal: “Just wait a little longer—the market will come back.” I refused to accept small losses, added more during big losses, and treated stop-losses as numbers I could adjust anytime. The first few times, I managed to pull through again—I even convinced myself I’d discovered the pattern of “major players washing out retail traders.” Then came a true one-sided move—the price never returned. All the money I’d侥幸 earned from the previous ten wins was wiped out in one go. The most dangerous thing about the market is that it occasionally rewards mistakes. Profiting from holding a losing position doesn’t mean your decision was right—it only means the cost of that error wasn’t immediate. Conversely, a price rebound after a strict stop-loss doesn’t prove discipline is useless. Reviewing your trades shouldn’t just ask: “Did I make money?” It must also ask: “If I repeated this exact action 100 times, would my account survive?” Remember: Errors that cost you money are easy to fix; errors that make you money are the hardest to quit. When the market lets you off the hook, it’s not endorsing your strategy—it’s just waiting for you to increase your position size.