In trading, no one can make a profit on every single trade. But what really ruins people isn't necessarily seeing the wrong direction, but rather losing control of their positions step by step—losing more and more until it exceeds their psychological tolerance, and then they break down.

Before placing an order, people are most clear-headed, but once real money is involved, rationality starts to doze off. Expectations and fears take turns taking over the mind. You tend to habitually ignore signals that are unfavorable to you and instead magnify every small favorable fluctuation. Most intra-day decisions are essentially driven by emotion.

Want to change this situation? Before opening a trade, ask yourself four questions—miss none:

First, what is the logic for entering? It must be a clear signal, not just a feeling like "I think it will go up."

Second, where is the stop-loss point? Find key support or resistance levels, don’t set it arbitrarily.

Third, where is the target zone? What is the expected profit-taking range?

Fourth, can you withstand the worst-case scenario? Is your position size heavy enough to affect your sleep?

If any one of these four questions has no answer, don’t move your hand.

Regarding take profit, don’t always try to eat the last piece of meat. Markets will eventually end, and earning within your understanding is enough. Too many people reach their expected target zone but continue to hold out of greed, resulting in not only profit retracement but also losses. That kind of blow is double.

A safer approach is to take profits in stages, leaving some core position to follow the trend. As long as you plan your target before opening a trade, you must follow through. The extra profit is luck and not worth sacrificing trading discipline for.

Trading is fundamentally about the strength of planning and execution, not about how precise your predictions are. The market never disappoints those who can control themselves. Those who trade long-term and earn steadily rely on this set of principles.