Are you sure the net result after series of trades would be better if you held on to your trades longer? What I mean is if you hold your positions longer, inevitably, average profits will be bigger but fewer.
Just realized, you say some of your profits, do you realize you know this in the hindsight? You might be kidding yourself thinking you would have ended up with more money if you have done this instead of that. Just a thought.
I am still working on this problem. I still do not let my profits run but I am working towards it by gaining confidence. Right now I just use a 20 pt target in YM and look for those situations where I can enter with a 10 point stop giving me a 1/2 risk/reward which I am happy with for now and it relieves me from making a lot of decsicions. Of course I miss an occasional long run but I also cash many situations that would otherwise get stopped out but the thing is I am gaining confidence in my method and I hope to eventually be able to recognize those situations where holding on might be wise.
only when you embrace the idea of getting out for less than what you could have at the moment that you could truly hang on for more.
It does take courage to be a pig. I'm riding a nice profit from yesterday into a small loss today from intraday reversal.
The best solution is experience. After seeing more and more great trades slip away by premature exit, you slowly learn to let good positions ride. To get over an artificial mental block, try exiting partially. Keep a portion of your position, small enough that you aren't worried about it, and ride as long as you can. E.g. just let 10% ride for as long as possible.
1. I feel that one needs to develope a solid trading plan and have a solid exit (if a price drops below a certain point - whatever that may be trendline/candle/downward squiggle/price etc etc). 2. Then make sure your plan includes not chasing <<< important. 3. But also include in your plan a reentry if certain conditions are present (based on positve past expereince trades/practice/charts etc ... Once you have these 3 things in place and you start trading using these 3 things your confidence will grow and if you developed your plan accrodingly you will naturally stay in for the ride. -note- I need to develope the above because like you I have the same issues ...