Giving Back Profits - The Trap of 'Just One More'

NOTE: This is a post on Mindset and emotion. It is NOT a Trade idea or strategy designed to make you money. If anything, I’m posting this to help you preserve your capital, energy and will so you can execute your own trading system with calm, patience and confidence.

The trouble doesn’t start with the win.
It’s what happens after the win that sets the course for the unwind.

Take this scenario as an example.

You finish the morning well in the green.
You are focused, composed in flow
And then the thought creeps in:
“Just one more”
“I’m on fire.”
“Let's make it count”.
That’s when strong sessions turn into regret.

What’s really happening inside you:

• Thoughts: “If I’d sized bigger earlier, I’d have more.” “Stopping now is leaving money on the table.”
  
• Feelings: Euphoria, Invincibility. Subtle disbelief that this winning streak could end.
  
• Behaviours: Taking marginal setups, holding too long, over-sizing.
  
• Body cues: Elevated energy, buzzing restlessness, almost addictive “high.”
  
• Trigger: A profitable trade or session - the buzz of winning.
  

This isn’t opportunity. It’s the discomfort of stopping.
Your brain has just been flooded with dopamine - the chemical of reward and anticipation.
When you stop, that rush fades fast.
The body doesn’t like the drop, so it urges you to keep going.
It’s not greed - it’s biology.
Your system is craving the stimulation that came with the win.
The mind interprets that craving as “one more setup.”
But what it’s really chasing… is the feeling of being alive in the action.

Learning to sit with that energy, without acting on it is emotional mastery.

Mastery isn’t about cutting winners it’s about knowing the difference between pressing your edge and chasing the feeling.

One comes from clarity and alignment with your plan.

The other comes from chemistry and compulsion.

Both feel powerful in the moment but only one keeps you in the game.

Once you can see that impulse for what it is a chemical pull, not true opportunity the next step is learning how to regain control before it takes you off plan.

How to shift it:

• Define the finish line: set a daily stop time or target and honour it. End when you said you would. Winning traders know when to walk away.
  
• Reframe the win: Booked profits aren’t ‘missed opportunity’. They’re proof that you’ve followed your process and protected your edge.
  
• Closure ritual: write: “Today I protected my edge.” Train your body and mind to link stopping with success, balance and composure.
  

👉 The market always offers “just one more.” The pros know: the real edge is keeping what you’ve earned.

Highlighting once again the post on Non Farm for anyone that missed it. The announcement is currently rescheduled for Friday 10th (due to the US Government Shut Down). Link below: