Stop blaming technical analysis or macroeconomic conditions. The repeated "liquidity" being harvested is not the problem with the market, but with your psychological ledger.
First, observe this phenomenon: when your account shows a floating profit of 10%, you are extremely nervous, fearing that the profits will disappear, so you immediately cut your position to lock in gains. But then you see the market continue to surge. Conversely, when your account shows a floating loss of 30%, you become calm. You close the app and comfort yourself by saying, "As long as I don't sell, I haven't lost anything."
This is not good discipline. From a cognitive science perspective, this is systemic self-deception.
Nobel laureate in Economics Daniel Kahneman pointed out in "Thinking, Fast and Slow" that your brain, in order to maintain psychological balance, sets up a "cheating account" for itself.
Your mind actually keeps two sets of books: one is the real account—the actual cash used for groceries, rent, etc.; the other is the psychological account—your holdings, which you default to defining as "game tokens." That’s why losing 100 yuan in cash can upset you all day, but watching tens of thousands of yuan evaporate on the screen can leave you completely calm. On a psychological level, this money has long been downgraded in your mind.
When your holdings incur a loss, your brain activates a separation mechanism: as long as you don’t close the position, this loss is just pixels on the screen, not a "real" loss. You deceive yourself into thinking that a rebound will come, but in reality, you are being completely trapped by your psychological account.
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MEVSandwich
· 4h ago
Wow, isn't this talking about me? Making a quick profit and running away, suffering a loss and lying flat, truly incredible.
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fomo_fighter
· 4h ago
Haha, you got me. I'm the kind of idiot who runs when there's unrealized profit and lies flat when there's unrealized loss.
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SchrodingerGas
· 4h ago
Fuck, isn't this just talking about me... Cutting positions and running when there's a 10% unrealized profit, sleeping soundly with a 30% unrealized loss, this is truly systemic self-deception. Kahneman's theories really hit the mark; mental accounting is way more disgusting than technical analysis. At least candlestick charts won't deceive my brain.
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LayerZeroHero
· 4h ago
Damn, isn't this just my daily routine? Doing this every time.
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PseudoIntellectual
· 4h ago
Emma, you're talking about me... Running at 10%, lying flat at 30%, that's really impressive.
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MetaverseVagabond
· 4h ago
Damn, isn't this talking about me? That's so heartbreaking.
Wait, how can I still sleep soundly with a 30% unrealized loss? Now that's real skill.
The theory of mental accounting sounds like an excuse for me, but I feel like I've been seen through.
Not closing a position = no loss. I've been using this logic for three years, haha.
Brother Kahneman is right; we are all our own biggest liars.
Honestly, I panic when I see unrealized gains, and become numb when I see unrealized losses. This is really a sickness.
Do you truly understand your trading logic?
Stop blaming technical analysis or macroeconomic conditions. The repeated "liquidity" being harvested is not the problem with the market, but with your psychological ledger.
First, observe this phenomenon: when your account shows a floating profit of 10%, you are extremely nervous, fearing that the profits will disappear, so you immediately cut your position to lock in gains. But then you see the market continue to surge. Conversely, when your account shows a floating loss of 30%, you become calm. You close the app and comfort yourself by saying, "As long as I don't sell, I haven't lost anything."
This is not good discipline. From a cognitive science perspective, this is systemic self-deception.
Nobel laureate in Economics Daniel Kahneman pointed out in "Thinking, Fast and Slow" that your brain, in order to maintain psychological balance, sets up a "cheating account" for itself.
Your mind actually keeps two sets of books: one is the real account—the actual cash used for groceries, rent, etc.; the other is the psychological account—your holdings, which you default to defining as "game tokens." That’s why losing 100 yuan in cash can upset you all day, but watching tens of thousands of yuan evaporate on the screen can leave you completely calm. On a psychological level, this money has long been downgraded in your mind.
When your holdings incur a loss, your brain activates a separation mechanism: as long as you don’t close the position, this loss is just pixels on the screen, not a "real" loss. You deceive yourself into thinking that a rebound will come, but in reality, you are being completely trapped by your psychological account.