I almost got completely eliminated this morning.

After sleeping until I naturally woke up, I picked up my phone and was still dazed. In a certain live broadcast room, the host was calling trades. Before my mind could react, my hands already moved—placing a full send on a short position. When the floating profit showed 20U, I even started to feel a bit floaty.

The next second, the market suddenly surged in the opposite direction. I broke out in a cold sweat in front of the screen.

This is my 28th day of full-time trading. I’ve made countless self-imposed rules: must cut losses, refuse to follow others’ trades, and avoid gambling on luck. And yet? The 1001st time, I still lost to the same opponent—the person in the mirror.

Honestly, this isn’t a technical problem at all.

Where’s the problem? Afraid of being wiped out by stop-loss, so I simply don’t set one. Think the direction is right, and stubbornly hold on despite floating losses. Cheer myself on with “manual close,” but when it really loses, I’m reluctant to cut. My mind is full of fantasies: just wait a bit longer, I’ll definitely break even.

Step by step, small losses turn into bigger losses, and big losses become a long-term struggle to hold on. Anxiety creeps in, judgment collapses, and I even start adding to my position against the trend to average down. The final outcome? Margin runs out, the screen flashes, and the account is wiped clean.

You can win 100 times, or 1000 times, and the market won’t care. But as soon as you lose just once, you’re out.

The harsh truth of this market is: it’s never punishing your lack of knowledge, but every time you tell yourself, “This time is different.”

After countless battles with myself, I finally understand one thing: to survive longer, relying solely on a sharp “spear” is far from enough. You must first build a defensive line—an armor thick enough—so that no matter how many mistakes you make, you won’t go to zero overnight. That’s true trading wisdom.