Many traders treat "small stop-loss, high take-profit" as their Bible, believing this rule can lock in risk and amplify gains.

But what is the actual response of the account? Frequently triggering stop-losses, never reaching the target levels, and the principal quietly evaporates through repeated small losses.

**The symptoms are very clear, but most people haven't seen through the root cause.**

Why does the stop-loss always get hit?

The fundamental problem lies in using imagination to oppose market reality. Prices fluctuate daily, and intraday volatility of a few points is normal. But if your stop-loss is set just one or two points away from the current price, it's like walking in a minefield—ready to be triggered by normal market jitters at any moment.

What’s even more painful is that your market direction might actually be correct. The trend ultimately moves in the direction you predicted, but you’ve already been shaken out by that small wave of fluctuation. Then you watch helplessly as the market soars, while you can only beat your chest in frustration. Most people have experienced this torment.

Now, let’s look at the trap of high take-profit targets.

Setting such high targets implicitly assumes the market will move unilaterally to the end. But in reality? The market mostly just oscillates around that level, making some moves and then retracing, never reaching your imagined target. The final outcome is typical: stop-losses are repeatedly hit, take-profit becomes a beautiful dream, and the account slowly bleeds out in the "repeated small losses." If leverage is involved, the bleeding accelerates like a gaping wound.

**And there’s an even colder reality.**

Key price levels often concentrate large numbers of stop-loss orders. These are not organic market signals but the best tools to wipe out retail traders. A slight shake in price can trigger a chain reaction of stop-losses. It has nothing to do with whether your judgment is right or wrong; it’s purely due to market structure—big funds know where retail traders set their stops and lie in wait there.

So what to do? Change your mindset.

Stop-losses shouldn’t be about "small" — what matters is having a real basis. For example, if a key support level is truly broken, or volatility suddenly spikes, then a stop-loss makes sense. Not just setting a number randomly.

And take-profit shouldn’t be about chasing high levels. Segmenting profits is the way to go— for example, take 50% off after a 20% rise, and let the rest run with a trailing stop. This way, you lock in profits and avoid missing out on rebounds by exiting completely.

The core idea is simple: improve your success rate per trade, don’t expect to make a fortune on every single one.

**To be blunt.**

Trading is never about who makes the most money in one shot, but about who can maintain a positive return through a series of ups and downs. Those who frequently suffer small stop-losses are essentially disguising the strategy’s flaws with the illusion of "hard work in trading."

If you keep swinging between stop-loss and missing opportunities, often getting shaken out at critical moments, the problem isn’t with $SOL, $ETH, or other coins, nor is it that the market doesn’t give chances. The real issue lies in your set of "seemingly safe but actually full of traps" rules.

Truly consistent profitable traders first need to re-understand what risk really is and what normal volatility entails.