Stop Wasting Time on Regret

You know that feeling when you realize you’ve made a mistake?

That sinking, gut-wrenching sensation.

You feel stupid.

Like when you hold a trade too long, watching your profits vanish… or when you panic sell right before the market rebounds.

That’s hindsight bias (as I read one user mentioned it on X)—your brain playing tricks on you, making you believe you “should have known better.”

And it’s one of the biggest psychological traps that wreck traders.

Let’s break it down.

The Trap of Hindsight Bias

Think about it:

You buy a crypto token at $1.00. Over the next few weeks, it pumps to $3.00. You’re feeling confident, convinced it’ll go higher. But then, suddenly, it crashes to $0.60.

You tell yourself:
❌ I should have sold at $3.00.
❌ I should have seen the signs.
❌ I knew this was too good to be true.

But here’s the cold, hard truth:

👉 You didn’t actually “know” it would crash.
👉 You made the best decision you could with the information you had.
👉 You weren’t being stupid—you were being human.

It’s easy to look back and believe the outcome was obvious. But at the time? You were operating in the dark, just like everyone else.

The Reality of Trading: Every Decision is Incomplete

You’re not omniscient.

Every single trade you take is based on incomplete information—because markets are uncertain, and they always will be.

When you're in the moment, you don’t have the full picture. You see a few data points, you analyze the charts, you interpret the news—but you don’t know what’s coming next.

That’s how trading works.

When you look back at past trades, you’re looking at a completed puzzle. But when you were making that decision? You only had a handful of pieces.

That’s why it’s dangerous to judge your past decisions based on what you know now.

How Hindsight Bias Destroys Your Trading

If you keep falling into this trap, here’s what happens:

🚨 You hesitate to enter new trades because you fear making “another mistake.”
🚨 You second-guess your strategy and start making emotional decisions.
🚨 You become paralyzed by regret instead of focusing on what you can control.

This is how traders self-sabotage—not because they lack skill, but because they let their emotions override their logic.

Here’s How to Break Free from Hindsight Bias

✅ Accept that every trade is a probability game. There’s no such thing as a “perfect trade.” You will never have all the information. The best you can do is execute based on the data available.

✅ Detach emotionally from past trades. The market doesn’t care about your feelings. Regret doesn’t pay bills—smart risk management does.

✅ Shift your focus to execution, not outcomes. A good trade is one where you followed your plan, not just one that made money. If your strategy is solid, the wins will come over time.

✅ Control what’s within your reach. You can’t change past trades, but you can refine your system, improve your risk management, and develop discipline. That’s where your power lies.

Final Word: Stop Looking Back—Start Moving Forward

Every trader has been there. Every successful trader has taken losses, made bad calls, and had moments of regret.

But the ones who make it? They don’t dwell on what should have been.

They adapt. They improve. They move forward.

Hindsight bias is keeping you stuck. Break free from it.

🚀 Are you ready to stop trading like an amateur and start thinking like a pro?
Join our 9-5 Traders Community and level up your mindset.

—Victor