Recently I watched my favorite football team lose a vital game.

I simply love this team.

I became so emotional about it; I thought this isnt good for my health. Can you believe that, but thats how we get when we are passionate. I simply couldnt believe (I didnt want to believe) they could lose.

However, as a committed fan, I was going all the way with them. If they were going down, I was going down with them. After all, you dont give up on your team simply because they dont win every game. On this occasion, I was so wound up, willing them to win, knowing all along they had blown their chances.

I really should have walked away from the TV. However, I stayed for the pain. Oh, the exquisite agony. At the end, my shoulders and head were down, I felt like Id run a marathon and deeply felt the loss for the team and myself. Was there life after this game?

I should have been saying to myself theyve done well considering theyre a young team, theyve done better than expected, so save yourself the heartache and face the factthis season is not theirsemotionally detach yourself.

As I was lying on the settee, absolutely exhausted, analysing why Id put myself through it, my mind went back to my early days of trading. We all go through this and hopefully only in our very early days when we learn a few painful lessons. For some, its enough to put them off trading forever.

We buy a stock, believing the price will go to a higher level. We know it will rise, because its a blue chip and the indicators all line up. Theres no chance this will turn against us. Its a stock we love because weve followed it for some time and its a household name its been a great performer for years. Of course, weve got our mental stop loss sorted out before we go into the trade.

However, it does turn against us. Because we love the stock we see our stop loss taken out and what do we do Nothing!

We love this stock and it will definitely bounce back. But it doesnt and like a sports fan, you stick with your team and with every decrease in price, you feel that pain and you rapidly go down too - you too are a loser, not only in the sense that youve gone against the rules, but also youve lost your money.

Just like your favorite team, you cant win every time. So, to protect yourself against losing, get out when your stop loss tells you dont let your love for a stock paralyse you. In this way, youll sustain a small loss, but have enough money left to go in on a winning trade.

So, never attach emotion to a trade treat them all the same and trade your strategy. And always have a stop loss in place. Dont rely on mental stops as love can make you do crazy things!

NEVER FALL IN LOVE with a stock.