Today I discussed a painful topic with a friend: which is more maddening, selling too early or seeing your profits retract?

My own feeling is that selling too early isn’t that bad—even though it’s a pity, at least the money is already safely in your pocket. But profit retraction? Watching the numbers in your account drop from a high point is truly painful to the core.

My friend came up with a brilliant analogy—
Selling too early is like your ex marrying someone else: you’ll feel regret, but life goes on;
Profit retraction is like being cheated on: that sense of betrayal can keep you up at night 😭

On reflection, it really makes sense. Taking profits or cutting losses is easy, but enduring the agony of evaporating unrealized gains is the hardest hurdle in trading.