I have been trading options for quite a while and make plenty of mistakes and usually pay for them. But I usually have a plan formed during non trading hours and I follow it and mostly do OK.
On Friday when AAPL was going down I bought DEC calls. On Monday I bought more Dec calls and some NOV calls slightly OTM. As we all know how difficult it is to buy on the way down even though we know it is usually the right thing to do. So on Tuesday I felt pretty good when the Stock rallied and I sold all my DEC and NOV calls at the close as I did not think 61 million shares was convincing. So Far, So Good. So Wednesday morning I am sitting on a bunch of recently acquired cash and talking on the phone to Tommo who is very encouraging and saying it is great to have some cash on the side.
  MY BIG MISTAKE was going against the plan of staying out of the fray until at least the end of the week and all those gains were wiped away (at least on paper) as I stepped in at the first half hour and bought At The Money DEC calls. The Dec 75’s .I was like a moth to the flame and could not stand being out of what I thought was a rally although experience should have told me that after such a big runnup it was not so I paid the price and got what I deserved for being so greedy… Not the end of the world but a huge loss BECAUSE I DID NOT FOLLOW MY PLAN. So my lesson that I have learned over and over again is Make a plan and follow it

When you figure out how to keep that kind of self-discipline on a constant basis I’ll be the first in line for an autographed copy of your book.

Don’t be so hard on yourself. We all go through it.

Have lurked on this thread, but was not going to post, as I have nothing new to write.  But SNIPUS post has caused me to reconsider.  So even though the lesson I relate is an old one…............

Every weekend I make two lists: a list of all current holdings and a watch list (for both trades and investments).  I reveiw all and make a written note on each, even if just a couple of words.  I also review my overall market outlook, and I remind myself of my stratgic view.  Then I make a written plan for the week.  I update the plan as the week unfolds, but always when the market is closed.

In upside down baseball terms I am a .900 hitter.  That is to say when I violate my written plan, I lose money 90% of the time.  At least it seems that way.  So I echo what SNIPUS writes.

One of the challenges of this method is that the high volatility of late makes being disciplined very difficult.  Opening prices can vary greatly from yesterday’s close meaning that decisions made in the evening are based on prices that no longer exist.  Monday morning was an example of this; two stocks I had planned to sell opened so much lower, that I held off.  The plan must allow for these contingencies by specifying whether planned trades are unconditional or price dependent.

Lesson:  Have a written plan; follow the plan.

[quote author=“capablanca”]

Lesson:  Have a written plan; follow the plan.

I could not agree more. 

I put together a spread sheet with my long term aapl goal for the next 5 years.  When the numbers get added up it is amazing to see the gains.  I try not to day trade since it is so risky, but I do give in to temptation at times. 

When one looks long term it makes the months of August and Nov seem less important.

I lost 20K in August.  I learned my lesson and did not panic last week because I had my long term plan.  As result I lost only 5K this time but kept enough money out to buy back at lower so when we get back to 192 I will actually make 5K

What I realized is that the big boys buy up the stock just before earnings and right after earnings.  They have a plan and once it is confirmed that Apple is making big bucks then they buy.  I decided to do the same.  By x amount of stock with each x amount of price gain.

In my case I will buy 100 shares with each 20 point gain.  It is amazing to see what happens five years from now.