After spending time in the market, you'll discover something:

There are countless ways to lose money, but only one way to make money.
Most people don't lose because of bad luck—they lose because they try to cash out before completing their cognitive stage.

**Stage One: Living by Feeling**
Following the trends, driven by emotions.
Chase whatever narrative is hot today, chase whatever pumps tomorrow.
These people are always the most active traders in the market—
and also the ones losing money fastest.
They're not sheep; they're fuel.

**Stage Two: Half-Understanding, Dying Worse**
You start reading, start researching, start feeling like you've "figured it out."
But that little bit of knowledge you've gained is just enough to make you bet big—
yet not enough to stop losses when you're wrong.
Most "smart people" die here.
They die reluctant, they die bewildered.

**Stage Three: Less is More**
The people who actually survive trade less and less.
No chasing trends, no predicting short-term, no borrowing on leverage.
You do one thing: find good assets, wait for good prices, then do nothing.
Time is your only weapon. Compound returns are your only strategy.

It took me many years and expensive tuition to reach Stage Three.
Now my principles are just a few:
Don't touch what you don't understand.
Don't buy what you can't calculate.
If you can't sleep, your position is too heavy.
The market doesn't owe you money.
But if you're patient enough, it will repay you.

Which stage are you at?