That 30% ETH crash—watching my $32,000 account get wiped out right before my eyes—taught me a crucial lesson: it’s never the market that kills a trader, it’s the mindset of “I can make it back.”

Let’s talk about rolling positions. A lot of people get this wrong and think it means doubling down with your principal. That’s a mistake! Real rolling is about snowballing with profits you’ve already made. Your principal? That’s your lifeline—you never touch it.

I set three iron rules for myself and put them front and center on my trading screen:

Seed capital is frozen—treat $10,000 in principal as if it doesn’t exist, only use profits;
Add to positions based on signals, not gut feelings—wait for confirmation at key technical levels, for example, price holding above the 200-day moving average with a clear volume surge;
Split profits—never use more than 50% of floating profits to add to positions, keep the rest for safety.

A lot of people like to average down and keep buying the dip, but that’s just digging their own grave.

This approach took me from $10,000 to $320,000. At first, I started small—made $150 with a tiny position and treated myself to a nice meal, celebrating while also keeping my impulses in check. Once I got the snowball rolling, I only used floating profits to add at confirmed breakouts, and my principal always just sat in the account untouched. Later, I got smarter—when my floating profit exceeded my principal, I’d open a short position as a hedge. When the market corrected, my net value actually increased.

My most ruthless move: I wrote a script to tie my own hands. Automatic position adds when signals trigger, 5% stop loss triggers automatic closing, 20% of profits withdrawn each week automatically. I only kept a view-only interface on my phone—no chance to make impulsive trades. 90% of retail traders’ losses come from clicking that button when they shouldn’t.

I’m no genius; I just learned how to survive in the market. I’ve mentored 21 students, and the fastest one turned $8,000 into $120,000 in 4 months. The method is really just a few rules: never touch your principal, let signals guide you, use profits to roll, and use scripts to control your hands.

Blowing up an account isn’t shameful—constantly blowing up is. As long as you’re still in the game, there’s always another chance.