I’m sitting here on a Saturday morning, still recovering from yesterday, from yet another encounter with my oldest and greatest nemesis — Tilt.
Yes, it happened again. Even after 10 years in this game, I found myself back here again, at the mercy of tilt. I broke my rules, widened my stops, turned two losers into even bigger losers by adding to them, and ended up blowing two prop accounts while the third is now hanging by a thread.
Looking back now and writing this, it feels completely ridiculous. But in the moment? That’s what tilt does to you. All logic and reason go straight out the window. Emotional and psychological control disappears.
What Is Tilt?
Tilt is when you lose control of your rationality and emotions. You start making rash, impulsive decisions — revenge trades, breaking every rule you’ve set, and digging yourself into a deep hole.
In that state, adrenaline and a cocktail of chemicals flood your system. You can’t see the woods for the trees. You’re deep in the grip of the Tilt and your usual disciplined self is nowhere to be found.
How Tilt Creeps Up on You
You often don’t even realize you’re tilting until it’s too
late. It starts small. A subtle thought appears:
“Am I
really still in control here?”
You justify the first small deviation from your plan. Then another. And another. Before you know it, your trading plan and risk rules are completely ignored. You’re no longer trading your strategy — you’re trading pure emotion and instinct. And in that highly charged emotional state, instinct is rarely your friend.
My Experience Yesterday
Most of the time, I can spot the early signs and shut it down. I close the laptop, go outside, grab a coffee or a beer — whatever it takes to break the cycle.
But sometimes, like yesterday, it starts with one small, stupid trade that doesn’t quite fit the rules but “feels” like it has potential. It goes against you slightly but I still have faith, so you widen the stop. Then you add to the position because you’re still convinced you’re right. Price moves further against you… and the spiral begins.
What started as a minor rule break can quickly turn into a 4-5% loss across accounts. One small mistake snowballs into a catastrophic one.
The Dangerous Spiral
Here’s how it usually plays out:
You take a trade then slightly bends your rules (“I think there’s something here…”).
It doesn’t go your way immediately.
You widen your stop or add to the position.
You convince yourself you still believe in the setup.
Price keeps moving against you.
You double down again… and suddenly you’re deep in the red.
Sometimes and even often the market comes back and you escape with a break-even or small loss. But then once in a while — like in this case — it doesn’t. Price just keeps going against you, and the damage becomes severe. You can lose several days, weeks or even months hard work in a matter of minutes.
The One Key Lesson
If you take away only one thing from this post, let it be this:
Never let one small mistake turn into a big one.
The moment you break your rules — even slightly — stop. Walk away. Close the charts. Do whatever you need to do to regain control. Because that single small deviation is often the first step onto a very slippery slope that can destroy your account.
Tilt can happen to anyone, at any experience level. I’ve been trading for a decade and it still got me. I`ve witnesses experienced veterans like Tom Hougaard, completely lose control and suffer heavy losses, flipping long to short hoping something will stick. It can and will happen to you to so be vigilant to it as much as possible. The difference now for me is that I recognize it faster and I’m much more honest with myself when it starts creeping in.
Stay disciplined. Protect your capital. And when tilt tries to take over — fight it by doing the opposite of what your emotions are screaming at you to do: stop trading.
How I Feel
Now
So, how do I feel now? Not good. Not great. But it could be a lot worse.
Thankfully this time (unlike in the past), it wasn’t my real personal money— I wasn’t trading my own personal account. I only lost a few prop accounts, and those can be replaced. At least I didn’t spiral into what I call the “Fuck It Zone” — that dangerous place where you’ve lost all control and you think “whatever happens, happens,” even if it means blowing up everything.
I also managed to avoid proper revenge trading. After the big loss, I did enter a couple more trades, but I closed them almost immediately. Deep down I knew I wasn’t in the right mental state to be trading. So I shut the laptop, stepped away and drank a few beers.
On the positive side? I lived to fight another day. I’ll be back at it on Monday.
I’ve learned from past mistakes, but if I’m honest, the main feeling right now is a kind of sadness. It still hurts that after all these years I can still fall into tilt like this. I genuinely thought I was past it but I probably never will be fully.
But what can I do?
Monday we regroup and we go again.