#TradingStrategyMistakes

❌ Common Trading Strategy Mistakes (and Fixes)

1. Overfitting Your Strategy

Mistake: Optimizing your setup based only on recent market behavior (e.g., only works in trends or chop).

Fix: Backtest across different market conditions (trending, ranging, high-volatility). Use forward-testing and walk-forward analysis.

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2. No Defined Edge

Mistake: Taking trades without a clear, tested setup or a real statistical edge.

Fix: Define your edge in one sentence. Example:

“I trade 1H pullbacks with bullish divergence at major support, confirmed by volume spike.”

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3. Inconsistent Risk Management

Mistake: Varying position sizes emotionally or chasing losses.

Fix: Stick to fixed % risk per trade (e.g. 1–2%). Build a risk model (even in Excel) that auto-sizes based on your stop-loss distance.

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4. Late Entries / Chasing

Mistake: Entering trades after the move has already begun.

Fix: Build entry patience—have predefined triggers (e.g., candle close confirmation, retest of level).

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5. Lack of Trade Review

Mistake: Not journaling or analyzing past trades.

Fix: Build a simple trade journal:

Entry/exit

Screenshot

Setup type

Result & notes

What would I do differently?

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6. Forcing Trades During Low-Probability Conditions

Mistake: Trading during consolidation or overlapping sessions without a setup.

Fix: Define “no-trade zones”—days/times or setups you explicitly avoid (e.g., Friday afternoon, pre-news candles).

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7. Overreliance on Indicators

Mistake: Using too many indicators without context.

Fix: Keep it clean. Price action first, indicators as confirmation (e.g., use RSI + volume to confirm strength, not to predict turns alone).

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8. Not Adapting to Market Context

Mistake: Using the same setup in every condition.

Fix: Develop at least two playbooks:

Trending market setup

Range-bound market setup

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9. Emotional Trading

Mistake: Reacting to FOMO, fear, or boredom.

Fix: Build pre-trade checklists and take breaks when you feel emotional.