Allow for a wider initial swing for breathing by setting the protecting stop not to close to the entry point and put on only a smaller position.

I can definitely identify with the constant small losses scenario. For quite a long time I was constantly finding myself getting stopped out for many small losses. Eventually it seemed that I was practically expecting to be stopped on every trade, thereby guaranteeing the losing outcome of my trades. As a result of this I tended to cash in on any trade that showed me a small gain because I grew fearful of losing that little positive cashflow, and often sat back and watched the trade go on to significant gains after I had exited.

After reviewing my trades for the last year and listening to some common trading wisdom, I came to the conclusion that I was not ready to accept the loss that my stop point would produce if hit because my position was sized too large, so I was mentally defeated before I even put on the trade. I therefore got exactly what I expected from the trade, i.e. a losing trade because my stop was hit. To correct that, I have changed my trade strategy this year so that I now set my stop way beyond the intra-day market noise (I mostly swing trade), typically 1.5 times the average 10 day intra-day range. I then size my position accordingly so that my OUCH point is not reached when my stop is hit. This has helped in that I have already accepted the possibility of the loss, and I mentally know that it cannot hurt me anymore as I am sized appropriately. I then just sit back and let the market do its thing, with profit taking orders already in the market.

This new positive expectancy from the trade has helped me on a physcological (sic) level and trading is fun once again.

Additional comment: This way it is possible to set the stop not at the most obvious point, which often gets taken out, just because the market "wants to hurt" all those doing obvious and natural things. If you don't believe such market behavior exists, believe me, it is there. There are market makers and traders, who know that they can trigger those stops and drive prices towards them.