Late-night monitoring, chasing huge profits, ending up completely broke—this was once my daily routine in the crypto market. Until later, I gave up the dream of relying on luck and turned to a seemingly ordinary but highly effective method. The result was eye-opening: those "conservative" approaches I once looked down upon turned out to be the stepping stones to stable profits.

**Survival is Always the Top Priority**

You've heard many people talk about "risk management," but very few actually practice it. That’s why some make money while others lose everything.

Never risk your entire net worth at once. No matter how much capital you have, limit your single trial to no more than 10% of your total capital, and keep your overall position within 20%. What’s the benefit of doing this? It gives you enough reaction space, allowing the market to work for you instead of playing you out.

Stop-loss isn’t weakness; it’s the survival baseline. My approach is simple and straightforward: pre-set your stop-loss price, and exit if it drops to 2%. Hesitate for a second, and that fleeting hope might be the critical point where you turn profits into losses.

What about leverage? Beginners should avoid it altogether, and even experienced traders should limit it to at most 10%. Leverage amplifies your gains but also your risks. It’s like a double-edged sword—no one can predict when it might cut you.

**Do Less, Earn More**

Frequent traders will eventually face a harsh reality: the higher the trading frequency, the more fees eat into your profits. Even more frightening, frequent operations dull your judgment.

Within a certain period, stick firmly to either long or short. Don’t try to switch precisely; that only causes you to lose rhythm during market shifts. The real winners are those who are "focused."

Before entering a trade, write down your plan: 3% stop-loss, 5% take-profit, then let your trading system execute automatically. This helps you avoid emotional interference and lets the machine make decisions for you.

Limit yourself to no more than three trades per day. It’s less about controlling the number of trades and more about reminding yourself: dedicate your best energy to the most promising opportunities. Going beyond that often results in trades made just to appear active.

**I’ve Been Through These Pitfalls, So You Don’t Have To**

The most common reason for failure isn’t lack of skill but repeatedly making the same mistakes.

Adding to a position during a decline? That’s like trying to catch a falling knife with your bare hands. It may seem brave in the short term, but in the long run, it accelerates your exposure to risk. What does a market decline mean? It indicates your judgment might be flawed. Increasing your exposure at this point only makes the cost higher.

Frequent entry and exit always get silently eroded by fees. You think you’re active, but in reality, each trade is draining your pocket. Do the math: making ten trades a month versus two trades, the difference in fees can cut your profits in half.

Floating profits don’t equal realized profits. That money is still in your account, not in your pocket. "It might still go up, so wait"—this is the most expensive illusion in the market. Many people turn profits into losses under this illusion.

**From Chaos to Systematic Transformation**

Compare two paths:

One is full-position trading, adding on dips, and eventually being cleared out by stop-loss lines. You’ll be busy, fingers flying on the keyboard, but in the end, your account still shrinks.

The other is using 20% of your position as a base, setting clear stop-loss levels, and executing take-profits decisively. Doing just two high-confidence trades per week. This approach may seem slow, but it can achieve about 8% growth per month while controlling drawdowns. How powerful is long-term compound interest? Calculate it yourself.

I chose the latter. Not because I’ve become conservative, but because I finally understand: in this market, surviving longer means earning more. Earning quickly isn’t as good as earning steadily.