Spent years watching traders cycle in and out of the markets, and it's almost never the strategy that kills them.

It's position sizing.

Most beginners find a strategy with a real edge — say, 55% win rate with a 1.5:1 reward-to-risk. That's profitable long-term. But they size positions based on conviction, not risk. One "sure thing" trade at 10x their normal size wipes out three weeks of gains in an afternoon.

The fix is boring: risk a fixed, small percentage of your account per trade (1-2% is standard), regardless of how confident you feel. Confidence is not a risk management tool. Your stop loss is.

If you're building your system right now — write your position sizing rule down before you write your entry rule. It'll save your account.

Built a full 21-lesson course on this exact process (technical analysis → risk management → execution) if anyone wants the structured version: Apex Trading Lab.