After so many years in the industry, I've seen too many people stumble in the contract market. Some blow up their accounts, some disappear entirely. But there are also those who survive, and even live more comfortably than ever. I am one of them. Since I started trading in 2018, those early days of losing money really kept me awake at night. But now I’ve stabilized, and each month brings in a decent profit. Honestly, this isn’t about talent or some secret trick; it’s just a set of ridiculously simple methods—yet because they’re simple, executable, and truly effective, I want to share them.

**Fund Safety Is the First Lesson**

No matter how brilliant your trading logic, a single liquidation can wipe everything out. I’ve seen too many smart people, with top strategies, get wiped out by one decision. So the first iron rule is: to make money, you must first stay alive.

What’s the specific approach? Position sizing is fundamental. When I had a capital of 100,000, I only used 10,000 per trade to test. A full position never exceeds 20% of total funds. It sounds conservative, but it’s this conservatism that has helped me avoid many major market reversals.

Don’t overthink stop-losses either. When a single loss hits 2%, I cut immediately—no "wait and see" thoughts. Many people lose their first big gains because they think, "I can hold on."

Regarding leverage, my advice for beginners is simply: don’t use it. If experienced traders do, keep your position below 10x. Most of the blow-ups I know happened at this point. They felt experienced, started increasing leverage, and then a sudden adverse move wiped them out.

**Trade Less, Focus on Quality**

The logic of making money in the market is actually counterintuitive. Many think earning is about "trading more," but in reality, it’s about "trading correctly." A losing trade needs to be offset by multiple winning trades; it’s hard to keep track of that.

Now I prefer one-way trading. Either only long or only short, no switching back and forth. The benefit? Clear thinking and a significantly higher success rate. Playing both sides, especially with high-frequency trades, eats up most of your profits in fees.

Set your stop-loss and take-profit levels before each trade—say, 3% stop-loss and 5% take-profit. These numbers aren’t random; they’re validated through backtesting. Once set, don’t change them. That’s mechanical discipline. Often, on-the-spot judgments are less reliable than mechanical execution because human emotions can interfere.

Control your trading frequency. I’ve observed that the first one or two trades of the day tend to be the highest quality. After the third, the quality drops, and you’re basically just giving away money. So even if I see an opportunity later, if I’ve already traded twice, I’ll hold back.

**The Common Pitfalls for Beginners**

I want to highlight one specific mistake: adding to a losing position against the trend. Every time you top up your position, you’re actually getting closer to liquidation. It’s a math problem, not a psychological game. If your position is at 20%, and the market moves against you, adding more to reach 30%, and then the market continues to go against you… just imagine what happens next.

Unnecessary trades should also be minimized. Frequent trading costs you in fees, which can surprise you after a year. Some realize that their fees eat up most of their profits—that’s embarrassing.

Most importantly, profits are not real until they are realized. Paper gains are meaningless. Most liquidation cases start with the phrase "It should still go up," and then they’re gone. Now, whenever I hit my target profit, I close the position immediately—no greed.

**How Much Can the Outcome Differ with the Same 10,000 Capital?**

Wrong approach: full 100,000 position, leverage, adding to losing trades, holding on, and finally… liquidation.

Right approach: use 20,000 as a base position, which is relatively safe. Strictly follow 3% stop-loss and 5% take-profit, and only trade twice a week—these two trades should be carefully selected high-quality setups.

What’s the result? Monthly returns can be consistently around 8%. With compound interest, annualized returns can reach over 150%. It sounds aggressive, but it’s based on strict discipline.

**The Six Core Principles**

What to do: trade with idle funds, stick to discipline, and maintain a unidirectional approach.

What not to do: go all-in, fight against the trend, or try to catch both sides at once.

It’s that simple.

**Final Words**

The contract market isn’t a casino, even though many treat it as one. Those who gamble their living expenses for a shot at the future usually end up losing everything. I’ve seen too many cases—some people actually made money, but a single greed-driven mistake wiped it all out.

True wealth isn’t short-term big gains; it’s surviving long enough. As long as you protect your principal and live long enough, you’ll be qualified to talk about "big money" in this space. Time will help you compound your gains.