What does it feel like to see your account drop from several million to 30,000 USDT? The numbers on the screen get wiped away like an eraser, and you just sit there, mind blank.

I didn’t completely break down back then, but I was close. But after calming down, I realized one thing: stop thinking about making it all back—just survive first.

Since then, I set a few hard rules for myself—

No single position over 10%. Cut losses at $150 instantly, no matter who tries to talk me out of it. Every time I make money, I withdraw the principal first and let the profits ride. By doing this, I slowly grew 30,000 USDT back up to 1.57 million.

Some people say it’s luck. It’s not. It’s discipline.

Take that ETH rebound as an example—on the first wave, I made $900. Then I added $1,350 using the profits, but never touched the principal. Even if the market crashed later, the worst I could lose was some profit; the principal was safe.

The biggest problem is the mindset of “wanting to cash out after every win, panicking the moment the market pulls back.” The result? Small gains, small losses, and your account goes nowhere.

I’ve paid the price for not taking profits. When FTX blew up, my account was up to $370,000, but I refused to cash out. The next day, it dropped straight to $120,000. That feeling was even worse than getting liquidated—the money was in your hand and then gone.

Now I’ve learned my lesson: once I’m up 15%, I move my stop loss up by 12%. If the trend changes, I’m out instantly.

This industry doesn’t reward emotion. All it respects is discipline and execution.

If you’re still thinking, “I’ll make it all back on the next trade,” you’re basically the market’s next ATM. The only reason I survived is because I controlled my emotions and made those rules second nature.

When you’re down to your last $30,000, don’t panic. Steady yourself, don’t make reckless moves, and the opportunities will come.

There’s never a shortage of opportunities in the market. What’s lacking are people who can wait for them and seize them when they come. Mindset is more important than skill; rules are more reliable than luck.