2025-12-27 13:23:23

Once a trade reaches a certain stage, it's not really about how advanced your skills are, but whether you can control people's minds.

This sounds like a motivational quote, but upon reflection, trading is fundamentally a game of probabilities. The only thing profitable traders do is repeatedly and consistently follow a set of rules with positive expected value over the long term. It seems simple, but why do most people fail? Because human nature tends to cause chaos.

Greed makes you hold onto floating gains and not take profits, only to see those profits swallowed by a reversal; fear makes you stubbornly refuse to cut losses, turning small losses into big pits; overconfidence drives you to break your own rules repeatedly, thinking "this time is different." And then there's the vanity of not wanting to admit mistakes, which often leads to a margin call.

Therefore, what truly differentiates traders is never whose technical indicators are more complex, but who can stick to their rules during market fluctuations—those are the ones who can survive longer.

**Enlightenment is actually about giving up illusions**

Beginners are searching for the "Holy Grail" indicator; intermediates are studying how to predict market movements; but those who truly understand only do one thing—manage themselves.

What does this mean? Accept that losses are inevitable, view stop-losses as costs rather than failures; accept missing opportunities as normal, avoid forcing participation in markets that don't fit your system; most importantly, acknowledge your limited cognition, use cold, strict rules to constrain subjective judgment, rather than blindly trusting feelings.

When you stop trying to "beat the market" and instead honestly follow the rules to survive, that is true reconciliation. Stop-losses are no longer hesitated over, holding positions no longer cause anxiety, and even when out of the market, you won't feel itchy.

This isn't some sudden enlightenment or metaphysics; it's simply a tacit understanding that a trader ultimately reaches with market laws.

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WhaleWatcher

· 9h ago

That's right, hesitation in stop-loss can wipe out unrealized gains Really, greed can destroy three months in an instant Taking rules seriously is more effective than any technical skill If you can't get past human nature, all indicators are useless I've long understood that following rules is a form of self-cultivation Biting the bullet on stop-loss is manageable; liquidation is the real pain Don't bother with flashy tricks; just staying alive is winning These words sound comforting, but few can truly do it Rules are your moat; sticking to them is the key to long-term survival Human weakness is the biggest opponent in trading

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SeasonedInvestor

· 9h ago

Really speaking, it's all about mindset issues. --- I fell for greed and am still in regret. --- This is the truth, much more reliable than any fancy indicators. --- Stop-loss is the hardest; it's easy to say but hard to do... Sigh. --- Listening makes sense, but who doesn't crash when actually executing? --- Rules are just decorations at critical moments. --- Understanding these still leads to losses, which means I didn't really understand. --- Can you make money without breaking rules? Then why am I still losing? --- That's why most people end up liquidated, including me. --- Managing oneself is a hundred times harder than predicting the market, really. --- What’s the disease called when you’re itching to go all-in? Someone cure me. --- Those who still want to beat the market until now haven't woken up yet.

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MindsetExpander

· 9h ago

That's right, I just realized this now. I used to think about getting rich overnight, but ended up losing even faster. --- Greed really kills people. I've suffered many losses from not cutting profits in time. --- The word "rules" sounds simple, but actually implementing them is deadly difficult. Human nature is truly the biggest enemy. --- Damn, that hit close to home. I seem to be that fool who keeps breaking the rules again and again. --- The point of this article is about managing oneself, not beating the market. Enlightening. --- Stop-loss should really be viewed as a cost, otherwise your mindset will collapse. --- The phrase about finding the Holy Grail indicator is exactly how I used to feel, boohoo. --- Living long is the real winner; this logic is flawless. --- People are truly the most difficult system to reform, far more complex than any indicator. --- My current anxiety comes from itchy hands—being out of the market but still wanting to trade. I really need to learn to let go.

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