In trading markets, why do people who make money feel it's so hard to earn, while those who lose money think making money is very easy?

Core logic: Their perceptions, positions, and mindsets are completely opposite, living in their respective illusions.

1. Why do people who lose money think making money is especially easy?

1. Only remember profitable trades, automatically ignore losses
Beginners tend to dwell on quick wins: making a few points in minutes on a short-term trade, or a coin/stock suddenly surging after casual buying. Their brain naturally amplifies the pleasure of these memories, shielding them from experiences of continuous losses and sharp drawdowns.
They mistake luck-based profits for their own skill, wrongly believing the market is full of opportunities, and that they can easily make money at will.

2. No risk control, rely on heavy positions to gamble on the trend
Loss-makers typically hold full positions, use high leverage, and do not cut losses. Occasionally, they get lucky and see a quick profit, which causes their short-term gains to skyrocket. This kind of instant, explosive profit reinforces the illusion that "making money is simple."
They fail to see the huge hidden risks: just one opposite market move can wipe out profits and even the principal. The loss hasn't happened yet, so the illusion remains unbroken.

3. Only focus on single trade gains, not long-term compound interest
Ordinary people judge by "did I make money on this trade," not "is the overall annual profit positive." Out of ten trades, making big money on two and small losses on eight, they see their account occasionally turn green and think earning is easy, completely ignoring the mathematical probability of long-term losses.

4. Mistake market randomness for their judgment ability
In rising markets, buying at will can lead to profits; during trending markets, everyone feels like a stock god. Loss-makers can't distinguish whether the gains come from market luck or their own skills. The false profits during bull or single-direction rallies cause them to underestimate market risks.

2. Why do stable traders feel that making money is extremely difficult?

1. See through the market’s essence: the market naturally harvests ordinary people
Mature traders understand the fundamental rules: trading is a zero-sum game, with fees, slippage, institutional harvesting, and false signals everywhere. The market itself is unfavorable to retail traders. To achieve long-term stable profits, one must essentially compete against the entire market.

2. Profits depend on restraint, opportunities are rare, most of the time they are out of the market
Truly consistent profitable traders have a complete trading system: they strictly select high-probability opportunities and refuse to trade if conditions aren’t met.
90% of market fluctuations are noise; only a few trends are worth trading. Most of the time, they endure the agony of being out of the market. Watching the market fluctuate but being unable to act naturally makes them feel that making money is very hard.

3. Risk control limits returns, actively forego explosive gains
Profitable traders always keep positions small, set stop-losses, and control maximum drawdown, willingly sacrificing short-term big gains.
They see a trend with potential for big profits but can only participate with small positions due to risk rules; if they make a mistake, they must cut losses, even if it means taking a loss. Self-discipline everywhere leads to slow profit growth, giving the intuitive feeling that making money is laborious.

4. Constantly fight against human weaknesses, internal friction is huge
The biggest enemy in trading is oneself: greed, fear, luck, frequent impulsiveness, holding on too long.
Profitable traders suppress human nature daily: taking profits quickly, holding on to losses to recover, increasing positions after consecutive wins.
They are always fighting their instincts, which incurs high psychological costs. Every bit of profit is gained by overcoming human nature, making them naturally feel that earning money is difficult.

5. Understand the inevitability of losses and the extremely high threshold for stable profits
Veteran traders know: short-term profits are achievable by anyone, but long-term consistent profits are only for a few.
Even with a mature system, they still experience consecutive stop-losses, missed opportunities, black swans, and slow upward profit curves, with drawdowns coming suddenly.
They understand that long-term profitability is a low-probability, high-difficulty task, and do not fall into the illusion that "making money is easy."

3. A one-sentence summary of the cognitive gap between the two types of people:

People who lose money: only see luck-based gains in single trades, ignore risks and long-term losses, living in short-term illusions;
People who make money: see the long-term market game, actively restrain themselves, fight human nature, and understand that every profit comes at a huge cost.

Simply put: those who think making money is easy haven't seen through the market; those who think it's very hard have $ETH already understood the market.