Having been in this circle for over ten years, including five years as a full-time professional trader. Looking back, the deepest lesson isn't about which coin multiplied how many times or missed out on a hundredfold project, but understanding a simple truth: discipline is the real amulet of protection.

When I first entered the market, I was just like most beginners. Spending all day pondering various technical indicators, superstitiously trusting on-chain data, fantasizing about finding some secret weapon in the market. But the market doesn't play fair; it teaches you directly with cash—here, experience often beats theory.

**A single poor mindset can lead to total loss**

Nothing is lacking in the crypto world except patience. Every day, you see newcomers thinking about getting rich overnight. And what happens? They get hammered by the market. This is normal, not an exception.

The most frightening things here are two demons—FOMO and FUD, which stand for "Fear of Missing Out" and "Fear." When prices soar, they chase in; when bad news hits, they panic and cut losses. I’ve seen this play out myself: media once spread rumors that "the US Securities and Exchange Commission is holding a meeting to determine if Ethereum is a security," which was later confirmed to be false. But just this false news scared a bunch of people into selling off. The market loves to mess with people like this.

What to do? It’s actually very simple—develop your own trading framework, then stick to it diligently, and don’t let every piece of breaking news disrupt your rhythm. As the old saying goes, "When others are scared, you be greedy; when others are greedy, you stay calm." This is especially true here.

**Survive first, profit second**

Position management directly affects how long you can stay in this market. The longer you survive, the more opportunities to make money. Those who lose money all die because of their positions—that’s the truth.

My own habit is this—keep leverage within 2x at most. When the market is uncertain? Be even more conservative, only use one-tenth to one-fifth of the maximum leverage to test the waters. For example, with a principal of 10,000 USDT, in unclear market conditions, I only open 0.2x leverage. What’s the benefit? Even if you make a wrong call, you won’t get wiped out, and you have many chances to correct mistakes.

Many people don’t understand this logic. They think it’s too conservative and the opportunity cost is high. But think from another angle—you get wiped out in a liquidation once, and no strategy is worth much after that. The traders who survive and keep making money without exception are masters of position management. They might not be the fastest earners, but their earning cycles are the longest.

In this field, discipline isn’t a constraint; it’s the greatest freedom. Because with discipline, you have a steady cash flow, and you can survive each cycle to see the next opportunity. Those without discipline? They’ve already been kicked out.