**From $1,000 to Six Figures: My 5-Year Journey**

I started with just **$1,000**. Five years later, I hit **mid-six figures**.

My apprentice went from **$5K to $10K in 90 days** using these exact rules.

When **every dollar counts**, here’s what **actually works**:

### **1. The 5-Part Money Rule**

- Split capital into **5 equal parts**.

- Only risk **1 part per trade**.

- **Stop-loss at 10%** = just **2% portfolio risk**.

- Even **5 losing trades** only cost you **10% total**.

- But **winners?** Let them run **20%+**.

This is how you **survive 100 trades—not just 5**.

### **2. Trade With the Tide (Not Against It)**

- **Downtrend?** Bounces are traps—**don’t catch knives**.

- **Uptrend?** Dips are gifts—**buy them**.

- *"The trend is your friend"* isn’t a meme—**it’s survival**.

### **3. Avoid the Pumped & Dumped**

- Coins that just **spiked 50%+ in hours?** They **chill or drop for days** after.

- Wait for the **flush** before considering entries.

### **4. MACD: Your Timing Secret Weapon**

- **Golden cross BELOW zero** = potential rally starting.

- **Death cross ABOVE zero** = time to trim profits.

- **Ignore this, and you’ll buy tops & sell bottoms.**

### **5. Volume Tells the Real Story**

- **Breakout at lows + rising volume** = strong buy signal.

- **Price stalling + huge volume** = smart money exiting.

- If **volume disagrees with price**, **trust volume**.

### **6. Only Ride the Winners**

- Trade coins **already in uptrends** (not *"it might go up"*).

- Use these **moving averages**:

- **3-day** = short-term momentum

- **30-day** = swing trade trend

- **84-day** = major bull/bear zones

- **120-day** = long-term bias

### **7. The Golden Rule: Never Average Down**

- **Adding to losers** = fastest way to blow up.

- **Only add to winning positions**.

- *"But it’s cheaper now!"* is how **bags are born**.

### **8. Weekly Trade Autopsies**

- Every **Sunday**: Review **all trades** (winning & losing).

- Note **what worked** (do more).

- Note **what failed** (stop doing).

- **This habit alone 10x’d my results.**

### **9. Discipline > Everything**

- **Set take-profits** (*greed kills accounts*).

- **Honor stop-losses** (*hope isn’t a strategy*).

- **Emotional trading** = donating to smarter traders.

**#TradeStories #SmartTrading #RiskManagement #DisciplineWins**