Feeling like your borrowing position is only three steps away from the liquidation line—just like your blood pressure skyrocketing when you read a health report—don’t hard-sell yourself as “I’m very stable.” I usually start by pulling my mind out of the “just hold on a little longer” mode: either add collateral, or reduce your position size, or directly repay part of the debt. In any case, push the liquidation price a bit farther away so you can give yourself some breathing room. The worst is when slippage and routing are watched so closely, but the moment you start borrowing, you get caught going with the flow—until on-chain robots come to make the decision for you. At that point, you really can’t blame your fate.

Recently, those new L1/L2 projects have been chasing incentives to pull TVL, and while they’re mining and selling up a storm, the volatility gets even more wild. When the liquidation line is close, it’s as thrilling as opening a door on a highway. Plainly put: don’t use “the market will rebound” as your risk control. The only things you can control are your position and leverage—don’t wait until the red line is right in your face before remembering to follow discipline. For now, less heroism, more staying alive.