All returns require a cost.

Your own physical and mental energy are also costs.

Going from a 2400 loss to a 1500 loss — how much did you lose? You lost 38%. But the problem is, when you're down to 1500, can you break even by gaining 38%? Sorry, you can't. You need to gain 60% just to get back to where you started.

Staking the entire company's bankruptcy to gamble for those returns — you're a demonic trader. Today you win the bet and claim an astronomical bonus? Then what happens tomorrow when you lose and can't even cover your debts by selling the company? What will you pay with? Even jail time won't be enough to make it right. So you don't just look at returns — you also look at returns per unit of risk.

As an individual investor, in addition to looking at returns per unit of risk, you also need to look at returns per unit of cost. In other words, improve your efficiency at making money: use 5% of your time to capture 70% of the profits, and spend the other 95% of your time in new areas where you can gain experience.

If you're a professional investor, your year-end report should show not just how much profit you made this year, but also how much risk you took on to achieve it.