Finesse !!!

Investing is a completely different ball game depending on how you play it. If you plunge into trades thinking "I am feeling lucky" then what you get is a gambling pit. This is very easy and it is driven by greed, hope and wishful thinking. These are extremely powerful human traits and really difficult to escape. Once you enter into a trade due to these reasons, fear and panic takes over and this leads you to an endless cycle of wrong moves. These are very useful trades to learn but heaven forbid you end up possitive. In hindsight you would find a reason and a very logical one to justify these trades and profit that come from them. You take pride in your abilities. This develops dangerous habits which are very difficult to shun. This leads one to believe that what they are doing is not speculation but investing. Speculation is not bad as long as it is executed as per the plan. You need a plan before entering into a trade and you need to strictly abide with it even though emotions say otherwise. This brings us to other side of the coin. This side is where you calculate and measure everything. You get into a trade knowing exactly what you are aiming for. You know exactly when you want to get out and leave the upside open and downside covered. You know when its not working for you and you kill the trade ASAP taking minimum loses. This is the only way to preserve your capital trying to make money. Decisions are not coined in hindsight but plans are made before hand and executed. This is finesse of trading. I am very far from this. I give into my emotions. I hope I learn it quickly before I lose my shirt.

[update] This sounds like "wars are won before entering into battle" strategy from "Art of War".