Many beginners find contract trading particularly difficult. In fact, what stalls most people isn't technical analysis skills, but mindset management and disciplined execution. I’ve been in this market for 8 years, and my persistence isn’t due to being especially smart. Honestly, it’s because I’ve always followed a few basic principles without exception.

First, it’s important to understand that stop-losses are not shameful at all. Many people have psychological barriers to stop-losses, thinking that setting a stop-loss means admitting failure. In reality, quite the opposite — stop-losses are the most effective way to protect yourself. The most dangerous moments often occur after several consecutive stop-losses, when emotions become particularly impatient, wanting to quickly recover losses. This leads to increasingly reckless operations, and ultimately, liquidation. My approach is, once I experience a series of losses, I stop trading, take a step back to review, and only consider resuming once my emotions are stable. As long as the principal is still intact, opportunities will always be there. There’s no need to rush.

Position control is the true line of life and death. A fatal mistake many beginners make is over-leveraging, hoping to double their position in one trade, but the reality is rapid liquidation. I never allow a single position to exceed 10% of my total funds. Even if this makes the return slower, I accept it. The essence of position control is risk management. Once this line is crossed, it’s almost impossible to recover the funds.

Market trends are very clear, and trading with the trend often yields stable profits. Conversely, fighting against the trend usually results in losses. My habit is to only enter trades when the trend is sufficiently clear. Even if I miss the lowest point or the highest point, the goal of steady profit can always be achieved.

Before placing an order, I first calculate the risk-reward ratio of the trade. If it doesn’t reach 2:1, I’d rather skip it. This standard may sound strict, but this mindset of “not trading is better than bad trading” has helped me avoid many unnecessary losses.

Frequent trading is a big taboo. The more trades you make, the more risk accumulates, and trading fees become a burden. I usually set specific times to watch the market. If the signals aren’t clear enough, I simply don’t act. This restraint helps me keep my mindset in the best state.

One last point many people overlook: regularly withdraw your profits. Don’t think about leaving all your profits in the account to keep rolling. This can make your mindset vulnerable to market fluctuations. Regularly taking out a portion of profits locks in gains and makes you feel psychologically lighter.

In contract trading, the competition ultimately isn’t about who’s smarter, but who can survive longer. Those who persist are often those who prioritize discipline and mindset above all. This path doesn’t require genius; it requires persistent self-discipline.