It is that I am, in one sense, ‘wired to lose’. Being of a contrarian mind, I have a tendency to ask ‘why’, to look at the other side of the coin, stay away from the herd, etc. In itself, this isn’t a problem, but trading is as much about getting in as getting out, and looking at my trading behaviour retrospectively I can see that I tend to establish trades that are usually against the consensus or trend with the result that I often have to endure some pain in the short-term; however, when and if the trade eventually goes my way, I am way too quick to close the position, because the contrarian in me is again telling me that the consensus is wrong. I simply don’t give enough room for the trade to carry on. It’s absurd. I know I can’t have it both ways and I realise that I need to have less of ‘me’ in the trade. I’ve only just realised this, so it’s a bit late. Nevertheless, a useful self-analysis if I ever return to trading in a meaningful way.