Trading involves six stages in total; only those who can endure can claim to be 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. Acting recklessly without plans or rules is essentially slow suicide.
Second stage, the technical fanatic stage, when losses pile up, start to see technical analysis as a lifesaver, obsessively learning candlestick patterns, wave theory, Chan theory, quantitative methods, changing indicators today, switching systems tomorrow, always feeling that learning one more trick will bring stable profits.
Fear of losses turns into an obsession with certainty.
Actually, it’s not that your skills are insufficient; you are too greedy.
Technical analysis cannot save you; a trading system is the way forward.
Choosing the wrong path, the harder you try, the faster you lose.
Third stage, the system cognition stage.
You understand the principles but can’t implement them.
Finally realizing that relying solely on technical analysis is useless; you need a complete trading system—an understanding of the way to acquire and return.
Execution is another matter; impatience, fear of missing out, leads to frequent entries, and the market still hits you back and forth.
You are clear-headed rationally but completely out of control emotionally.
This is the most painful stage; it’s not the market challenging you, but yourself battling 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.
You start to follow rules, but still occasionally soften your stance, able to trade according to rules and control most impulses, but sometimes still can’t resist opening a trade impulsively.
Just one or two emotional trades can wipe out all the profits earned from steady, disciplined trading.
Struggling repeatedly between rationality and greed, moving from chaos to mostly self-disciplined, which is already a big breakthrough.
Getting close to stable profits just one step away—completely uncompromising with yourself.
Fifth stage, the system execution stage.
Interest rate (profitability) is everything; you realize 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 your mindset becomes more solid.
Rationality outweighs emotion, discipline overcomes desire.
Being able to refrain from impulsive actions isn’t cowardice; it’s genuine respect for the market.
At this stage, the only enemy is arrogance and complacency.
Sixth stage, the Wu Wei (non-action) stage.
Your mind is free of obsession, and you see the way.
At this level, trading becomes as natural as breathing—no need to stare at the screen obsessively, no anxiety about predictions.
A single candlestick or market change is enough to read the rhythm and intent of the market.
No longer chasing profits deliberately, only aiming to do each step right.
Profit becomes a natural outcome.
Only then are you truly a trader—not a gambler, not a tech enthusiast, but a cultivator.
Most people get stuck in the third stage their entire lives—knowing they should follow discipline but never able to control their hands.
The market is never short of skills or smart people; what’s lacking is the patience to endure loneliness, resist temptation, and stick to rules.
Remember this: in the end, trading is a test of human nature, and mastering human nature to the extreme is Wu Wei.
Trading is not about copying answers; more importantly, it’s about judgment logic and risk management.
