Is it true that you need to be liquidated three times to make a profit? Renowned trader: Discipline is not built through training, but through real market lessons.

Renowned trader Pickle Cat shares his trading insights on Twitter, directly addressing the commonly cited trading profit equation: “Find a trading strategy, develop discipline.” This is highly misleading because discipline in trading isn’t cultivated through repetitive practice; rather, it comes from real market lessons—one must blow up three times to truly learn how to trade. He criticizes the overreliance on strategies, research, and knowledge by outsiders, while neglecting that the most difficult aspect of trading to face is oneself. Instead of studying others’ success, focus on how they survive during market lows.

Pickle Cat: Discipline in trading isn’t built through repetition

Pickle Cat says: Everyone says you need to first find a trading strategy and develop discipline so you can make money. But this is the most absurd and misleading advice for retail investors. Discipline isn’t something you can develop through repetitive practice; it’s not like training for sports where you get more disciplined as you repeat. Fake discipline may look effective on the surface, but it collapses when real pressure hits. In the end, you’ll break down completely.

If your mindset is the most fragile part of your entire trading system, no strategy can save you. He points out that traders who maintain consistent profits stay calm not because they are well-trained, but because they have endured pain and setbacks over the long term, forging resilience through repeated fragmentation and reconstruction.

The author adds: This is similar to muscle building principles in weight training—damaging muscle fibers causes micro-tears, and during rest and nutrition, the body repairs and strengthens the fibers, making them thicker.

He further states that true discipline often isn’t accumulated gradually but appears suddenly during downturns, after your old self is torn apart. “It’s not achieved through effort; it’s a product of destruction.” Those who remain calm in the market haven’t learned to control emotions but have survived greater storms; now, chaos can no longer shake them.

Trading Mindset Growth: Facing Fear During Life’s Lowest Moments

Regarding growth, he says if you’re currently in a low point in life, that is one of the few times you can truly transform. Use the energy you spend attacking others to take care of yourself. Channel that strength into self-growth—calm down, honestly face your shame and fears. Start by listing thirty things you fear or feel ashamed of, one by one. Because when everything is smooth sailing, you simply won’t have the courage to confront these.

Pickle Cat: Don’t over-mystify strategies; the hardest part of trading is the self

He criticizes the overtrust in strategies, research, and knowledge by outsiders, while ignoring that the most challenging factor behind trading is oneself. Don’t just copy others’ success; study how they survive during lows. He emphasizes that what can truly be replicated isn’t skills or luck, but how others rise after failure and turn pain into strength.

He often tells friends: You probably need to blow up three times before you have a real chance of becoming a profitable trader. Because “winning” isn’t about making money; it’s about preserving that money, not destroying yourself again. He admits that after each narrow escape, he mistakenly thought he had matured and become disciplined, but the market always reminds him that the old self isn’t truly gone.

He references concepts from Jung, Nietzsche, Buddhism, and the Bible, pointing out a universal psychological truth: you must confront death before you can truly live yourself. In trading, this death isn’t about financial loss but the collapse of self-illusions; rebirth comes from truly understanding one’s character, strengths, weaknesses, and desires.

He believes most people’s inability to break through is because they haven’t experienced enough fragmentation or forced themselves to face buried parts of themselves. “True sense of direction and stability only come after you are forced to open up and see yourself completely.” This statement has sparked widespread discussion in the community, with many traders agreeing that market brutality isn’t changed by strategies, but mental maturity can determine a trader’s long-term fate.

This article “Blow up three times to profit? Renowned trader: Discipline isn’t built through practice, but through real market lessons” first appeared on Chain News ABMedia.