# You'll Never Make More Money Than the Pain You've Experienced

I came across my mentor's reflection: "Pain is the best teacher, preaching is the deadliest hatred."

I sat with that for a long time. Reflecting on the pits I've fallen into—
Opening positions but not knowing how to close them, getting caught up in greed leading to profit givebacks, and worse, turning gains into losses by holding, sometimes getting emotional, poor position management, averaging down resulting in blown accounts; getting trapped after opening a trade, running after breaking even, then regretting when it rises...

Eventually I understood: what makes me lose money was never the market—it was me.

Loss aversion, refusing to admit mistakes even when holding losses;
Sunk cost fallacy, digging deeper trying to break even;
Overconfidence, revenge trading;
Fear of missing out, always chasing rallies and selling dips.

You didn't lose to the whales—you lost to your own human nature.
Trading is putting your greed, fear, and wishful thinking on the K-line for public execution.

Some say trading is gambling. Wrong!
Gambling relies on luck, trading relies on probability.
The core of mastering probability is just eight characters—accept losses, stick to rules

A truly mature trader doesn't make fewer mistakes; rather:
When losing, no revenge trading;
When winning, no arrogance;
When flat, no itchy fingers.
They turn discipline into habit, turn trading into practice.

How to take profits without greed?
1. Plan before opening: entry point, position sizing, averaging rules and levels, take-profit and stop-loss levels (500-1000-1500) all mapped out beforehand.
2. Once you open, regardless of profit size, ignore emotions, hit your planned take-profit to reduce positions, set trailing stops with breakeven protection, preventing profit givebacks. Let remaining positions run with the trend. Remember, accepting breakeven exits in line with the trend is acceptable.
3. Don't guess tops, don't fantasize, strictly execute your trading rules, prevent wins from turning into losses, one trade one result, no holding!

How to cut losses rationally without pain?
1. Support level stops. Before opening, identify the key support—if it breaks, you're out. That moment the line breaks is the market telling you "I'm wrong." The earlier you admit it, the smaller the loss.
2. Set automated stops beforehand. Prevent yourself from holding onto hope; execute strictly, treating P&L as process, not endpoint.
3. Position sizing stops. Set acceptable loss percentages for your account size, let go of ego, follow the market, accept impermanence. Every loss is a learning opportunity.
Like learning brakes before driving, traders must learn stops before opening positions.

How to control stop-loss position sizing?
For example, divide capital into 10 parts, never lose more than 2% of total capital per trade (calculate based on your risk tolerance). Even after 5 consecutive losses, you still have capital to make a comeback. Survival means you're qualified to talk about profits.

Post these rules on your screen. Read them when you profit, read them when you lose. Markets change, rules don't. Executing rules is fighting human nature.

Only then did I understand my mentor's words—
First wait, second hope, third it's gone. First think, second act, third success.
Thinking is just problems; doing is the answer. If you don't understand, learn through execution.
Only through pain, correction, and persistence can you shed a layer, become a different person.

Whether in trading or life—pain is the ticket, discipline is the ladder, awareness is the ceiling.

When you stop fighting the market, stop fighting losses, stop fighting your imperfect self,
you become truly free.

For myself, and for you.
May we all escape our inner demons, wake up through pain, be reborn through discipline.