I hate losing money because of bad decisions, so this article is a hard one for me. But losing money is exactly the outcome of my decision to buy Leggett & Platt (NYSE: LEG) not too long ago. Now is the time for me to assess what went wrong so I can learn from my mistake. Here are the key takeaways from my big loss following my decision to buy (and sell) Leggett & Platt.

While I don't have an official diary per se, I do track all of my important investment decisions in a spreadsheet. The main goal of the sheet is to keep tabs on my dividend payments, but there are two important cells on the sheet not related in any way to dividends: "reason for buying" and "success/failure." This is the diary of my logic and the outcome of the trade. I wouldn't be able to properly track my results if I didn't keep this simple record. If you don't do something similar, I highly recommend that you start. It helps keep me honest and provides insights that my all-too-human mind would prefer to ignore.

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