After more than a year of messing around in the crypto market with no obvious gains, don't just blame the market conditions. To be honest, many times the problem isn't that you're not working hard enough, but that the initial direction you chose was inherently off track.

I've also experienced moments of despair like liquidation and zeroing out my account, with countless pitfalls along the way. Only later did my account gradually stabilize, but this wasn't because my technical skills suddenly improved significantly; rather, through repeated market education, I finally understood a very simple truth—the ability of retail investors to survive long-term in this market depends less on technical operations and more on a fundamental understanding of the market.

If your understanding isn't deep enough, no matter how hard you try, it's futile. When your capital isn't large enough, the easiest mistake to make is frequent trading. In fact, there's no need to trade every day; as long as you can seize a solid opportunity during high-confidence phases, you'll already be ahead of most people. But if you can't understand market structure or figure out how capital flows, even if you make money by luck, you'll likely lose it all in the end. Execution isn't something you can just shout about; it requires repeated practice to develop muscle memory.

News is both a trap and a touchstone. Most people are most likely to lose their minds when "good news" appears. But in reality, when all kinds of news flood in, it's often not the start of an opportunity but a signal that risks are accumulating. The market is never short of stories, but every story requires someone to take the risk.

Regarding medium- and long-term versus short-term strategies, two points are crucial. Medium- and long-term investing isn't about how firm your belief is, but about your ability to manage positions and allocate funds. Short-term trading should focus on coins with trading volume, market sentiment, and volatility. Coins without activity, even if your judgment on the direction is correct, are easily worn down by the market repeatedly, leading to a mental breakdown.

These bottom lines are lessons learned the hard way, paid for with real money. First, if you buy the wrong thing, you must admit it; stop-loss isn't optional—it's a fundamental skill. Second, don't overcomplicate technical analysis; mastering one or two methods thoroughly is more effective than learning bits and pieces everywhere. Third, the way a price declines is often more important than the magnitude of the increase—bottoms formed by panic selling are actually easier to repair and rebound from.

None of these are theories copied from books; they are insights gained through trial and error. Remember this one sentence: losing less is essentially making money. Choosing the right direction makes effort meaningful; if the direction is wrong, the more diligent you are, the more likely you are to be eliminated early.