Trading and learning to drive are very similar; many principles are the same. From fumbling around to being one with the car, a person roughly needs to climb five steps. Only when each step is firmly planted will the road ahead be smooth.

First step: Get familiar with the car's condition and practice the basics

When you first touch the steering wheel, your eyes are only on the steering wheel, brakes, accelerator, turn signals, and rearview mirrors. You don't know what each button does, nor how the car reacts in different road conditions. At this stage, you need to touch a lot, look repeatedly, get to know every part of the car, and figure out the feel for starting, accelerating, decelerating, and turning.

Many times, you might just drive in circles in an empty lot, or repeatedly practice backing into a parking spot. Others may find it boring, and you yourself feel anxious, but this step cannot be skipped. Without solid basics, when you encounter an unexpected situation later, your mind will go blank. This step is about being willing to put in the hard work and honestly develop the car feel.

Second step: Establish a set of safe driving rules

Being familiar with the car doesn't mean you're ready to hit the road. At this point, you must set a fixed set of operating rules for yourself, not drive randomly based on your mood. For example: when to press the accelerator, when to apply the brakes; how far to keep from the car ahead; before changing lanes, you must signal for at least three seconds; each time you go out, how much fuel should remain in the tank to avoid panic; if you make several wrong turns in a row, you need to find a place to stop and rest, no longer pushing through.

This is like the safety mantra taught by driving school instructors. It's not for showing off skills, but to ensure you survive on the road. At this stage, you must write down these rules one by one and engrave them in your heart. When to act, when to hold back—the boundaries are clear, and you never rely on feelings to act recklessly. The first two steps rely on clear self-discipline and discipline, knowing what you can do and what you cannot touch.

Third step: Practice repeatedly, turn rules into muscle memory

After setting the rules, the hardest part is execution. When there are many cars on the road, you easily panic, or when the road conditions are slightly better, you can't help but want to let loose. At this point, what you need is not smarter skills, but circle after circle of deliberate repetition.

Just like a new driver who just got their license, getting into the car with a mind full of the mantra "clutch, shift, check mirrors, signal," nerves tightly wound. But if you drive the same route to work every day—starting, following traffic, waiting at lights, parking—after repeating these actions thousands of times, the mantra gradually becomes unnecessary. Your hands and feet know what to do on their own. When you see a red light, your foot automatically moves to the brake. This step relies on day-after-day deliberate practice, turning the rigid rules on paper into lively reactions in your body, gradually grinding down the part that requires active thinking.

Fourth step: Rely on conditioned reflexes to respond

When your practice volume reaches a certain level, changes quietly happen. As soon as the taillight of the car ahead lights up, before you've even processed it, your hand has already turned the wheel to avoid danger; when something suddenly darts out on the road, you brake instinctively. The whole process requires no recall of the driving test manual; everything is an instantaneous natural reaction.

In this business as well. When you see a familiar situation arise, you no longer need to consult the rule list or battle internally. You move when you should, stop when you should. When you admit a mistake and stop, there's no hesitation; when driving normally, there's no anxiety. It's no longer the brain commanding the hands, but the eyes seeing something and the action follows, eliminating all random thoughts and emotional fluctuations in between. To outsiders, it looks like you're an emotionless machine, but in fact you don't rely on on-the-spot judgment—you rely on intuition honed through long-term practice.

Fifth step: Become one with the car, forget the techniques

A truly experienced driver who has been driving for decades can listen to the radio and chat with others while still driving smoothly and steadily. The steering wheel feels like it's grown onto their hand; their body has become one with the car. They no longer think about "what gear should I shift to now" or "how much should I turn for this curve," because everything flows naturally.

At this point, what you do is no longer the rigid rules or conditioned reflexes, but a state of forgetting yourself and fully immersing in the process. Fast when it should be fast, slow when it should be slow. It's not "I am driving," but "the car is carrying me." This state cannot be forced by gritting your teeth and working hard; it is the result of all previous accumulation plus years of mental refinement. As time passes, the mind becomes less attached to gains and losses, the techniques are forgotten, and everything falls into place just right.

These five steps—not one can be skipped. From learning methodically, to engraving into your bones, to finally forgetting everything—every step counts.

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