At three o'clock in the morning, a string of red text suddenly appeared on the screen.

Account balance: 0.

I just stared like that, sitting still for almost half an hour. It wasn't about the money; it was the first time I understood that the term "liquidation" can be so hot to handle.

How foolish was I back then? Seeing the platform marked "5x leverage," I thought I could open positions casually. With 10,000 U in my account, I should have only lost 500 U at most, but in a moment of impulse, I opened a position of 30,000 U.

The market just shook for a moment, not even giving time to react, and went straight to zero.

That night I figured it out: the market doesn't kill people; you are the one handing over the knife.

---

Later, I met an old player who entered the circle five years earlier than I did. He said something that I still remember to this day:

"Contracts are not casino chips, but tools for risk management."

At that time, I didn't quite understand. It wasn't until I saw him operate that I realized that those who truly know how to play are not just bold—they have strong control.

Seventy percent of the time is spent waiting, thirty percent of the time is spent acting. When the opportunity hasn't arrived, there's no movement at all; when the opportunity comes, it's decisive.

Where does their profit come from? Simply put, it is gradually transferred from those liquidated retail investors.

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Most people lose in one word: busy.

Frequent operations and chasing highs and cutting losses may seem like controlling the rhythm, but in reality, they are being led by the market. The more one does, the more chaotic it becomes, and the more one loses, the more anxious one gets.

I used to be like this too, able to place dozens of orders in a day. Exhausted to death, yet my account keeps getting thinner.

Later I realized that a true expert is more like a hunter – able to crouch in the wilderness all day just to wait for that one precise moment.

---

Now I have set two rules for myself that are unchangeable:

First, a single loss will never exceed 5% of the account.
Second, only operate in markets that you can understand; it is better to miss out than to act blindly.

Relying on these two points, I slowly transformed from a greenhorn who was constantly liquidated into a seasoned trader who can hold steady.

---

I often tell people now: The contract itself is not gambling, but unplanned operations are.

Gamblers rely on feelings, while experts rely on discipline.
The former bets on getting rich overnight, while the latter fights for survival throughout their life.

If you always feel that the market is against you, it's not the market's problem; it's that you haven't learned how to reconcile with your own greed and impulsiveness.