I Only Took Trades With 3:1 Risk/Reward for 10 Days — Here’s What I Learned

Every trader hears the mantra: “Cut your losses short, let your winners run.” It sounds simple enough, but in practice, most of us struggle to do it. We either cut winners too early out of fear, or widen stops on losing trades hoping they’ll come back.

I wanted to break out of that cycle. So I set myself a strict challenge: for 10 trading days, I would only take trades that offered a minimum of 3:1 risk/reward (RRR). That meant if I was risking $100, my target had to be at least $300.

Why 3:1? Because in theory, even if I lost twice as many trades as I won, I’d still end up profitable. The math was clear. The real test was whether I could actually stick to the rules when emotions came into play.

I mostly traded BTC/USD and EUR/USD during this experiment, since they provide strong liquidity and clear moves. But the principle works for any market — stocks, forex, commodities, or crypto.

This wasn’t just about making money. It was about testing my discipline, reshaping how I viewed losses, and proving to myself that profitability doesn’t depend on being “right” all the time.

Setting the Ground Rules

Before I placed a single trade, I wrote down strict rules: