Risk before reward.
Decide what you can lose before you enter. The stop and the size come first; reward is just what you manage after.
- Set the stop loss before entry, and never widen it after.
- Risk a fixed 1% or less of the account per trade.
- Only take trades with at least 1:2 reward-to-risk; aim for 1:3 or higher.
- Enter near key support and resistance so stops stay tight.
- Move to break-even at 1R, take partials, and measure results in R, not dollars.