Trading involves six stages in total; only those who can endure through them are qualified to say they are consistently profitable.


First stage, the pure gambler stage, newcomers basically treat the market as a casino, themselves as gamblers, eyes only on ups and downs, chasing after rises, shorting on dips, making a little money and thinking they are chosen by heaven, losing and immediately placing another order, full of thoughts of getting rich overnight, always hoping to go all-in for a big win.
In this stage, there’s no need to learn technical skills; what’s most needed is awakening—realizing that the market is not a casino, and you are not a god of gambling. Random actions without plans or rules are essentially slow suicide.
Second stage, the technical fanatic stage, after losing too much, begins to see technical analysis as a lifeline, frantically learning candlestick patterns, wave theory, Chan theory, quantitative methods, and various indicators.
Today switching indicators, tomorrow changing systems, always thinking that learning one more trick will bring stable profits.
The fear of losses turns into an obsession with certainty.
Actually, it’s not that your skills are insufficient; it’s greed.
Technical analysis can’t save you; a trading system is the real direction.
Choosing the wrong path, the more effort you put in, the faster you lose.
Third stage, the system cognition stage.
You understand the principles but can’t put them into practice.
Finally realizing that relying solely on technical analysis is useless; you need a complete trading system—know the way, return to the way.
Execution, however, is another matter.
Impatient and afraid of missing opportunities, you still frequently enter the market, only to be slapped back by the market repeatedly.
You are clear-headed rationally but completely out of control emotionally.
This is the most painful stage.
It’s not the market making things difficult for you; it’s yourself fighting against yourself.
At this point, there’s no need to learn new knowledge; what you lack is restraint and patience.
Fourth stage, the system awakening stage.
Start to follow rules, but still occasionally soft-hearted and impulsive.
Able to trade according to rules and control most impulses, but sometimes still can’t resist opening a trade on a whim.
Just one or two emotional trades can wipe out all the profits earned from steady, disciplined trading.
Struggling back and forth between rationality and greed, going from total chaos to mostly self-disciplined is already a huge breakthrough.
Being close to stable profits only requires one more step—completely refusing to compromise with yourself.
Fifth stage, the system execution stage.
Interest rate (profitability) is above all else; fully understanding that execution is the core of trading.
Enter when signals appear, exit when they disappear.
No pre-judging, no assumptions, no excuses—just a calm executor.
Profits gradually stabilize, and the mindset becomes more solid.
Rationality outweighs emotion; discipline overcomes desire.
Being able to resist impulsive actions is not cowardice but genuine respect for the market.
At this stage, the only enemy is arrogance and complacency.
Sixth stage, the Wu Wei (non-action) stage.
No thoughts in the heart, the way in the eyes.
At this level, trading becomes as natural as breathing.
No need to stare at the screen obsessively, no anxiety about predictions, just a glance at a candlestick or market change and you can read the rhythm and intent of the market.
No longer deliberately chasing profits, only aiming to do each step right.
Profit becomes a natural outcome.
Only then are you truly a trader—not a gambler, not a technical fanatic, but a cultivator.
Most people get stuck in the third stage their whole lives—knowing they should follow discipline but never able to control their hands.
There’s no shortage of skills or smart people in the market; what’s lacking is patience, the ability to resist temptation, and the discipline to follow rules.
Remember this: in the end, trading is a test of human nature.
And when human nature is cultivated to the extreme, it becomes Wu Wei.
Trading is not simply copying answers; more importantly, it’s about judgment logic and risk management.
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