Discipline and patience are more valuable than the dream of getting rich overnight.

A friend who has been following me for three years recently contacted me, saying that in five months, he not only bought a full set of new furniture but also still has six figures in USD in his account. But what’s sad is that just eight months ago, he almost lost all his six months’ worth of renovation savings.

This guy, Lao Chen, has been working in the industry for five years. He finally saved up some money to renovate his house. Last May, with $1,500 in hand, he impulsively entered the crypto space, originally wanting to earn some pocket money from trading. But what happened? In less than two weeks, his account shrank to $900. I remember that night, he messaged me in a panic, saying, "If I keep losing like this, I won’t even have enough to replace the tiles at home."

At that moment, I told him one thing: stop trading, I’ll give you three hard rules for trading. Honestly, these are very basic principles, but it’s these three that not only helped him recover his losses but also allowed him to steadily make money in such a volatile market.

**First Rule: Divide your money into three parts, each with a clear purpose**

I told Lao Chen to split the $1,500 into three $500 portions, each with its own use.

The first $500 is for day trading, focusing on Bitcoin and Ethereum. As long as the price swings reach 2% to 2.5%, take profits immediately—no greed. Why choose these two coins? Simply put, compared to smaller altcoins, these mainstream cryptocurrencies have more solid historical performance and more predictable volatility patterns.

The second $500 is for swing trading. You have to wait until a clear trend forms on the moving averages before acting. Hold for two or three days, and when a good trend appears, take profits and exit. Never hold on to a position out of stubbornness. This strategy aims to capture larger gains from price jumps over a few days or weeks.

The third $500 is directly stored in a cold wallet, completely locked away. This is the bottom-line fund—don’t touch it.

**Second Rule: Know when to be aggressive and when to be cautious**

Lao Chen’s biggest problem at first was frequent trading; whenever he saw some movement on the K-line, he got itchy. I set a rule for him: once a stop-loss is triggered, don’t trade again that day. Also, set a daily profit target—stop after reaching 2%, and never greedily chase more. What’s the benefit of this? It stabilizes your mindset and reduces unnecessary losses.

**Third Rule: Use discipline to replace gambling instincts**

The most tempting thing in crypto is the feeling of quick money. But after Lao Chen adopted this framework I gave him, he told me his biggest takeaway wasn’t how much he earned, but that each trade started to have a logic. No longer just blindly clicking on charts, but executing plans systematically.

In five months, how much did $1,500 turn into? I won’t specify the exact number, but it was enough for his entire new furniture set plus renovations, with some leftover in his account. It’s not just luck—it's because he finally listened. Discipline and patience are truly more precious than the dream of getting rich overnight.