After ten years in this space, I’ve realized one thing—the market never cares how smart you are, it only cares whether you follow the rules.

Real wealth? It doesn’t go to those who run the fastest; it goes to those who can keep sitting at the table.

Three months ago, my old friend Ah Hua came to me. He only had 3,000U left and was on the verge of a breakdown.

I didn’t give him any sophisticated theories, just the simplest method: split the money into three parts and give yourself three layers of armor.

The first 1,000U? Use it to test short-term trades. No more than two trades a day. If you lose, stop immediately—don’t try to make it back.

The second 1,000U is for trend setups. Watch for weekly uptrend signals. If the trend hasn’t started, just play dead—don’t make random moves.

The last 1,000U is your lifeline. If you really get liquidated, use it to rebuild a base position, so at least you won’t be knocked out completely.

He stuck to this for 90 days, and not only did his account stabilize, it started to pick up. Behind this are the three iron rules I learned from ten years of losses.

**Iron Rule 1: Never Go All-In, Always Leave Yourself an Out**

Going all-in is handing your life over. This market is a meat grinder—nine out of ten times, volatility will wipe you out.

You can handle losing a finger with a stop loss, but no one can survive a beheading-style liquidation. Emergency funds are your oxygen tank.

**Iron Rule 2: Only Eat the Belly of the Fish, Don’t Be Greedy for the Head or Tail**

Give up on catching every wave. My entry signals are as simple as can be:

Daily moving averages not lining up? Stay out and watch.
Volume breaks previous high + daily confirmation? Take the first shot.

Once you’ve made 30% profit on your principal, immediately withdraw half. Set a 10% trailing stop on the rest—let the profits run, just focus on protecting your gains.

**Iron Rule 3: Lock Down Your Emotions, Set Your “Military Order” in Advance**

Before hitting the buy button, write this down on paper:

Stop loss line: -5%. If it hits, get out immediately—no second thoughts.

Trailing stop: Once you’re up 10%, move your stop loss to break even. Any further profit is free money.

Use mechanical, dead-simple rules to replace hesitation and wishful thinking.

After ten years, I’ve realized that getting from 3,000 to 30,000 isn’t about how many times you get it right, but how few mistakes you make.

I used to stumble in the dark alone, but now I hold the light in my own hand.

The light’s always on—are you coming along or not?