You can’t make money—not because you don’t understand the market, but because you can’t get past your own mental barrier.

When you first step in, you’re cautious and careful. Make a little profit and you’re satisfied; lose a little and you stop. Back then, you were clear-headed.

But once you’ve tasted what it feels like to make a big win, people change. A daily income of several hundred yuan (or USDT) no longer feels enough—you think the money comes too slowly. When you’re in profit, you don’t want to leave—you keep feeling like it can still rise a bit more. When you’re at a loss, you’re unwilling to accept it—you always feel like you should add positions to pull it back. So what happens? You give back the gains, and the losses balloon to several times. You end up placing yourself up on the mountaintop, unable to move.

This is the most expensive lesson in trading: while technical skills are easy to learn, it’s the inner demons that are hard to get rid of.

Many people, the moment they lose money, start cursing the operators, blaming the market, and never blaming themselves. But look back at your own trading record: with a principal of 3,000 U, you dare to open a position of 2,000 U. You say you’re trading “light,” but in your hands you’re full of heavy positions and leverage. Your stop-loss level is never set in advance—you always think the market will move according to your imagination. When you’re in floating losses, it’s not just that you’re losing—you also comfort yourself with “hold on a bit longer.” It’s exactly that sentence, “hold on a bit longer,” that drags a loss that should only be 3–5 points into a hard lock-up.

The ending is never decided at the moment of liquidation—it’s written the moment you place the order.

These are the few “dead rules” I repeatedly hammer into my students: if the market direction is unclear, stay out of the market and wait. When you reach your stop-loss, leave decisively. When you’re profitable, take profits in batches. After consecutive losses, close your computer and go rest. Before placing an order, ask yourself three questions: How much is the maximum this trade can lose? After you lose that amount, how much principal will you still have? After you lose, is there still room to maneuver? If you can’t figure it out, never place the trade.

It sounds simple—there’s no profound theory involved. But it’s these few rules that make the account curve of someone who can do it versus someone who can’t drastically different.

In the end, trading isn’t about who can be right more often—it’s about who can better control themselves. If you have a small principal and want to turn things around, it’s not about betting everything on one reckless all-in gamble—it’s about honestly splitting your funds, then slowly rolling them forward. Those who go heavy trying to double their money usually lose it all and exit early. Those who move more slowly and stick to discipline, on the other hand, are the ones who often stay alive until the big market opportunities arrive.

The market has never lacked opportunities. What it lacks is a person willing to stay in cash and wait, and who, after making a mistake, can stop immediately.

If you’re in this kind of condition right now—when it rises you’re afraid of missing out and you rush to chase, when it falls you panic and cut, and the moment you’ve just cut you’re itching to open the next trade to get it back—then first, stop your hands. What you lack isn’t the next wave of market; it’s getting back that version of yourself who is calm, clear-headed, and able to control your actions.

Live through it first, then talk about making money. As long as you’re still seated at the table, you’ll eventually be able to wait for the market that belongs to you. $BTC