When I discovered leverage, I felt like I had found the magic formula for trading. “I can trade as if I had ten times more capital? Incredible!” I saw it as a shortcut to success. But in reality, it was a trap disguised as an opportunity.

Overleveraging was undoubtedly one of the most costly decisions of my career as a trader. And I'm not just talking about money.

How leverage caught me

At first, I was seduced by the idea of multiplying my profits. With $100, I could move the market as if I had $2,000 or $5,000. A small variation in my favor, and boom: quick profit.

But when the market moved against me, it also multiplied... my losses. What seemed like a slight correction, with high leverage, became a catastrophe.

One day I experienced it firsthand: a small setback triggered a margin call that knocked me out of the game in seconds. Literally, my account was emptied before I could even react.

The mistake was not just technical... it was mental

I didn't use leverage because it was necessary, but because it was addictive. It gave me a feeling of “power,” that each trade could change everything.

But I didn't understand that the more leveraged I am, the less margin I have for error. And in trading, making mistakes is part of the game. Only with over-leverage, every mistake is paid for as if it were the last.

What did I learn after the crash?

1. Leverage is a tool, not a strategy.

It's not wrong to use it. It's wrong to abuse it. A hammer is used for hammering, but if you use it wrong, it will break your fingers. The same goes for leverage.

2. You don't need to leverage to the max to grow.

Growing slowly but steadily is more powerful than trying to double your account in a week. I used to want immediate results. Now I want survival.

3. Risk should be measured by trade, not by potential profit.

I used to go in thinking, “How much can I make?” Now I think, “How much am I willing to lose without it hurting me emotionally or breaking my plan?”

4. True control is accepting that I don't control the market

And so, I adjust what I can control: the size of my position, the level of leverage, and my reaction to a loss.

How I trade today

I use conservative leverage, much lower than what is offered to me.

I calculate my risk before each entry, and I never exceed 1% of my account per trade.

If my strategy needs more margin, I adjust it. I don't force the market or the account.

I respect stop losses. Always. Because I prefer a controlled loss to another margin call.

Final thought

Over-leveraging is not a sign of ambition, it is a sign of desperation or lack of experience. If you have to risk everything on a single trade, you are not trading... you are gambling.

Today, I prefer to trade less spectacularly, but more intelligently. Because if there is one thing I have learned, it is this: the best account is not the biggest one, it is the one that is still alive to trade tomorrow.