Becoming a better trader

Here are several trading mistakes that can devastate a trader’s account.They are all violations of sound money management practices:
Not placing stop-loss orders. This allows a small loss to turn into a large loss and is a cardinal sin in trading.
Overtrading. Here traders are either trading outside of their trading plans, taking random trades, or having too many open positions at one time.

Moving stop-loss orders to avoid a loss. Never increase a predetermined stop-loss amount.

Exceeding the amount of capital risked on one trade or multiple open trades.
Not taking profits when available. This is letting a winning trade turn into a losing trade and should absolutely be avoided.

Basics of a trading plan

The most obvious place to start is with what you are trading. Here are several ideas to include as a start:

• Define the markets you will trade.
• Define specific setups you will trade.
• Define entry point triggers into a trade.
• Define market conditions that would void the trade.
• Define the number of shares or contracts to be traded.
• Define how much risk is in the trade by using money management rules.
• Define stop-loss placement.
• Define profit objective targets and how and when a stop-loss order is moved.
  Use this list as a checklist until these questions become second nature. One excellent habit to develop is to write the information on a chart of the market that you will be trading.

  (From Trade what you see by Larry Pesavento)