The hardest lesson I have had to learn is to “Act in my own best interest”. And to overcome and correct things like:
1) trading without a stop
2) refusing to admit I am wrong and to get out of a losing position
3) trading for the sake of trading
4) chasing entries (going long on the top tick, shorting on the bottom tick)
5) revenge trading (after a series of losses)
6) trading while sick or tired
7) trading without a plan (entry, exit, money management rules)
8) …
Anytime that I am in a position and either don’t know why I am, or what my profit target is, or what my stop loss is, etc. – I am not acting in my own best interest and have always struggled to close out the position immediately.
The times I have without any further hesitation, it turned out to be a wise choice and saved my butt from significant losses (more so than I already incurred).
The bottom line is that you will do much better in this profession if you can answer YES to the question – “Am I acting in my own best interest”?