While you are seeking the win rate, that’s about all there is to it
The more you cling to win rate, the more you stop winning
But that attachment is what’s wrecking your trading.
Last time I talked about how win rate alone isn’t enough to win. This time, I’ll go further.The more you cling to win rate, the more, ironically, you’ll find yourself unable to win.
The feeling of “I want to raise my win rate” is natural. Everyone wants to win more than they lose. But when that feeling is too strong, your trading judgments become distorted, and your overall results deteriorate. This time, I’ll explain how attachment to win rate can cause you to lose.
“I don’t want to lose” distorts judgment
At the root of the psychology of clinging to win rate isthe emotion of not wanting to admit defeat. You feel the losses in trading as your own failure. So, in trying to avoid losses, you begin to take strange actions.
For example, when you’re holding a drawdown. Ideally you should cut losses according to the rules. But you don’t want to record a “loss.” So you hesitate to cut. You cling to the irrational hope that it will come back if you wait a little longer. At this moment, you’re trading by emotion, not by discipline.
When you fixate on the number called win rate, you become overly focused on each individual win or loss. As a result,you can’t make calm judgments. Trading should be done calmly without letting emotions in, but the attachment to win rate obstructs that.
The true nature of the disease that prevents stop-loss
The “disease of being unable to cut losses” that many traders suffer from. One of its true natures is the fixation on win rate.When you cut losses, the loss on win rate is confirmed. You don’t want that, so you delay cutting.
But delaying the cut doesn’t make the drawdown disappear. On the contrary, it grows. For highly volatile instruments like Gold, even more so. By waiting and not cutting, a small loss grows into a much larger loss that shakes your account. This is the worst outcome caused by fixating on win rate.
The feeling of “I don’t want to record a loss” leads to “creating a bigger loss.” Please understand this ironic structure. You try to protect a temporary number called win rate, and end up significantly harming your total capital. This is exactly the opposite of what you should do.
Want to protect win rate
→ Not wanting to record a loss
→ Delaying stop-loss
→ Drawdown grows
→ Eventually large losses
→ Total funds decrease
Trying to protect win rate leads to big losses.