motivation when youre in a long drawdown, how do you stay sane

[nightwalker]

im 11 weeks into a drawdown. down 14% from peak, well within my historical range but mentally getting heavy. system is doing what its supposed to (long drawdowns happen with my style), but staring at red weeks consecutively wears on you.

for those who have weathered extended drawdowns: what kept you sticking to your system without overriding or quitting?

[Dean]

what worked for me in an 8 month drawdown in 2023: review historical drawdown data of your system weekly. drawdowns feel infinite when you're in them but the data shows they end. seeing 'longest historical DD: 14 months, average: 6 months, im at 11' contextualizes the pain. also: reduce position size temporarily so each new loss hurts less psychologically.

[cameronv]

+1. data context is huge. also helps: keep a 'why this system works' document you wrote when you were profitable. read it during drawdowns. its easy to convince yourself the system is broken when really its just the drawdown thats supposed to happen.

[simpleguy]

how do you know if the drawdown is normal vs the system actually being broken?

[urbanfox]

comparison to historical baseline. if your backtest showed max DD 18% and average DD 9%, and you're currently at 14%, you're in normal range. if you're at 30% and the historical max was 18%, something might be broken. also check: are your losing trades following the rules, or are you making execution mistakes? rule-following losses = system regime. mistake losses = you're broken not the system.

[Hudson]

i started a 'losing streak journal' that documents what i tell myself to override the system. then i go back later and see if those overrides would have helped. spoiler: 90% of the time they would have made it worse. helps me trust the system over time.

[lostsignal]

what kept me through drawdowns was being too tired to do anything else. burnout might be the best discipline tool actually.

[samuel.j]

drawdowns are the lonliest part of trading you cant tell most people because they wouldnt understand. having ONE trading friend who gets it has been my single biggest psychological support. text a chart, get a 'hang in there', move on. small thing big impact

[Ryan]

tactical thing: i schedule activities for after a losing day so i physically have to leave my desk. gym, dinner with non-trader friends, anything that isnt staring at charts. cant revenge trade if you're not at the screen. boring but effective.

[Cody]

stick to plan. exit screen.