"If I could just get that BIG win..."...like pushing boat away from dock...would=BIG$... Do you feel that way?...let me explain...you have an account of $5,000.00 to open with....you feel, if I could just get a winner of %700, $1,000 or $1,500...I would never look back...WHY...I would be more relaxed trading as I am trading with "house" money from the market(and could lose a little and gain more back)...does anyone feel this way?...did you overcome it?...the thought process involved...again, MORE RELAXED, BTTER trading...NOTE: PLEASE no comments how "trading with a $5,000 account is undercapitalized etc."...thanks!!
It's like trying to hit a home run, or trying to drive a green. It won't happen, and, if you get lucky and do, it'll never happen again. For you will have benefited by luck, and luck is generally not repeatable. I remember playing golf with a guy, and we got to #4, a par 3. I was two down, so I pressed. He said, "you want to press me here? I got a hole in one yesterday." Of course, I knew that and he had the worst swing in the world. I pressed. He might have gotten a six. Probably didn't par the hole for two years. You develop an technique, or what ever you want to call it. when the setup presents itself, and you might have hit a bunch of singles and doubles, you'll have your smash. Your problem is, you need to be alive for that to happen. And judging by your post, the odds are against you. It's just the truth. You need form. You need an edge. "Hope" is a bad strategy.
When I first started trading the futures I set out to take a 1000 little profits and let them add up. I had a goal of doing 100% in the first month and I fell a whisker shy of the goal but you are right, once you have a few bucks the game does change and you do tend to relax but it doesn't have to be one Big one. It can be 10 little ones.
the big win is dangerous. you trade usually via a determined set of rules. if you get lucky and get a big win, you will probably overleverage.
......and it won't do you any good if you get that 'big loss'. And if the latter comes before the former, the former can't happen.
Trading is not gambling. Risk management (position size mgmt included) is important. if you're looking for a big $ "win." Step away from your trading station and go hit the casino tables.
only gamblers use the term "house money" it's YOUR money if you locked it in. if i'm up 10000 realized on the day and lose back 5000, that was MY 5000 that i lost, not the "houses"
Regardless of the size of the account involved, psychologically you are correct increasnow. This isn't a technical issue, it is a psychological one, and the way to deal with it is just as PTF has described ... step-by-step.