How long can trading last? Ask a hundred people, and about 99 will give answers like technical analysis or luck. Honestly, these are just surface phenomena—the real reason people get nailed to the cross boils down to one word: **Position Size**.

Don’t oversimplify position management; shallow definitions like “how much money to invest” completely miss the point. What is the truth about position size? It reflects your mindset.
Try this scenario: go all-in with a big position, and suddenly a huge bearish candle appears, causing the price to plummet and approach your psychological limit. At this moment, can you still calmly analyze the situation? Probably not. Fear and frustration will hit you simultaneously, and in a hot-headed moment, everything falls apart—adding to positions, adjusting stop-losses, falling deeper into the trap. This chain of mistakes is hard to avoid.
Conversely, if you only take a small position to test the waters? No matter how much you lose, it won’t hurt your core. As long as your logic remains sound, continue holding and observing. If you need to stop-loss, it won’t hurt enough to impair your judgment. Most importantly—keep your mind clear, and your thinking won’t distort or warp.
There’s a simple formula that explains all this: **Emotion → Mindset → Operation → Result**. The most honest causal chain in trading markets.
I have a habit in my trading rhythm—only make heavy decisions after 2:30 PM. Why? Because by then, the overall market strength and weakness are already clear, and the win-loss outcome is basically decided. Compare that to the morning session, where errors are alarmingly frequent—the root cause is one word: **Impatience**. Impatient to seize positions, quick to act, eager to prove your judgment is correct.
Ironically, what really helps reduce mistakes is **slowing down**. Slowing down can help you avoid more traps and false signals. Often, slow is the fastest way.
Ultimately, the essence of position management is two things layered together: risk management plus emotion management. No single candlestick or technical indicator can replace it. Especially when your capital is still relatively small, you must master this system thoroughly—big funds can afford to lose money trying various methods, but every dollar you have can’t afford to be tossed around.
Trading is like warfare; position size is a strategic-level decision, while technical indicators are just tactical tools. When you embed the mindset of position management into every trade, your mindset becomes stable, and subsequent operations won’t go off course. This is the fundamental logic for surviving long in this market.