20 pip xauusd loss, how do i recover from it?

Register your loss in your trading journal, take a step back and study why you lost. Come back after some days but reduce your lot size this time (maybe 0.01). Use a 1:1 risk to reward ratio to lock in small profits till you get your confidence back then you can go for bigger lot sizes and higher rr ratio trades.

Journal your trade and pay attention to it, learn from it and forge ahead. You can recover from any drawdown as long as you don't let your emotion take a hold of you. take the next trade when all your criteria have been met. stay within your risk, don't over risk because of the previous lost.

Dont revenge trade, withdraw the money from your account and use it to invest in something else (revenge investing). Take some days off, then come back to the market.

Losses hurt, and blow up on single trade should hurt even more.

It seems that you were sizing up on a trade, the outcome of which you are unable to accept. You learn this the hard way, never ever risk more than your daily, weekly or similar limits. It keeps you in the game.

As long as you have the capital, you have the chance. But if you punt it on a single outcome, there is going to be a trade that will take it all & you don't recover from it.

Also, I want to ask, was there a mechanical signal? Or was it discretion?

Confidence comes from data over time, not from being right. You weren't "wrong" today, you just had one outcome in a distribution of thousands.

Trade the process. The results always follow.

Start with 20 trades rules, and only have the capital that you are okay with losing in those 20 days. So, even if you lose that in the next 20 trades, you don't feel bad.

Sure you can recover, just put it behind you and move on to the next trade. Losses are unavoidable, but before you enter the next trade, check your trading account balance and open a lot size that is commensurate to your trading account balance. If your account balance is low and you try to trade the same lot size you may get a margin call and your broker will close your trades prematurely