1. Sense of rhythm - as natural and stable as breathing.
Avoid 'suffocating trading': Do not overtrade or trade frequently. Just as breathing cannot always be inhaling without exhaling, trading also needs pauses. Overtrading can lead to fatigue, emotional instability, transaction cost losses, and risk control failures.
Avoid 'rapid breathing trading': Do not make hasty decisions during periods of high market volatility or emotional agitation. Rapid breathing is a sign of panic, and hurried trading often marks the beginning of losses.
Find your own 'breathing frequency': Every trader has a trading frequency that suits them (day trading, swing trading, trend trading, long-term). Find the frequency that makes you feel comfortable, moderately stressed, and able to maintain focus and discipline, and stick to it. Do not envy others' 'breathing rhythm.'
Wait for the opportunity to 'inhale': Just like breathing needs to wait for air to enter naturally, trading requires patience to wait for high-probability opportunities that fit your trading system to emerge. Do not force yourself to trade.
Decisively 'exhale': When a stop-loss is triggered or a profit target is reached, execute the closing action as naturally and decisively as exhalation. Do not hesitate, do not hold onto fantasies.
2. Gradually advancing - as continuous and irreversible as breathing.
Compound thinking: Breathing is a continuous process of supplying oxygen to the body. Successful trading seeks long-term, stable profits rather than getting rich overnight. Focus on risk control and execution quality for each trade, allowing profits to accumulate naturally like breathing (compounding).
Risk management is the 'lifeline': Breathing stops, life is in danger; risk goes uncontrolled, the account will surely perish. Risk management must always be prioritized as if maintaining breathing. Set and strictly enforce stop-loss limits for individual and total positions, controlling position sizes (never 'all in' to suffocate yourself).
Continuous learning and adaptation: The market environment is like the composition of air; it can change. Traders need to continuously learn, reflect, and adjust strategies (but not arbitrarily change the core system) to adapt to market changes, just like the body adapts to different environments.
Start small, gradually increase: Beginners are like infants, breathing shallow and fast. Trading should also start with small positions and risks, focusing on mastering basic skills and discipline. As experience and confidence grow (as well as the steady growth of the account), gradually and cautiously scale up like deep breathing.
Accepting 'exhalation' (losses) is an inevitable process: Breathing cannot be only inhaling, and trading cannot be only winning without losing. Losses are like exhalation; they are a natural and inevitable part of the trading process. The key lies in controlling the extent of losses (small losses) and learning from them, preventing a 'big exhalation' (large loss) from hurting you fundamentally.
How to integrate the 'breathing philosophy' into trading practice?
1. Formulate and adhere to a trading plan: Your plan is your 'breathing pattern.' Clearly define entry points, stop-loss points, take-profit points, and position size. During trading, just execute according to the plan to reduce emotional interference.
2. Strictly execute risk management: This is key to maintaining 'vital signs.' Before every trade, you must clearly understand the maximum risk of this 'breath' (trade) (stop-loss) and ensure that this risk is within your tolerance (position control).
3. Cultivate patience and discipline: 'Waiting' is one of the hardest 'breathing' actions. Wait for high-probability opportunities to emerge, wait for the market to validate your judgment, and wait for profits to run. Discipline is the guarantee that your 'exhalation' and 'inhalation' are conducted correctly.
4. Regular reflection: Just like feeling your own breathing state, regularly review your trading records. Analyze the reasons for success and failure, check if risk control is in place, whether the strategy is effective, and if the mindset is stable. Continuously optimize your 'breathing method.'
5. Maintain physical and mental health: Good health allows for smooth breathing. Trading is a highly mentally and emotionally consuming activity. Ensure sufficient sleep, a healthy diet, moderate exercise, and good stress management to maintain clear judgment and stable execution.
6. Focus on the process rather than the outcome: Breathing itself is not about pursuing a certain outcome, but maintaining the process of life. Focus on executing each trade well (controlling risk, acting according to plan), rather than being obsessed with the profit or loss of a single trade or the daily fluctuations of the account. Persisting in the correct 'breathing method' over the long term will naturally lead to good results.
# Summary
The core of 'trading should be as rhythmic and gradual as breathing' lies in nature, continuity, discipline, and survival.
A sense of rhythm helps you avoid impulsiveness and maintain clarity and focus.
Gradually advancing helps you respect risks, pursue stability, and focus on the long term.
When you integrate trading into a state as natural as breathing, it becomes a sustainable, stress-controllable, and even calm activity, rather than a struggle filled with anxiety and gambling overtones. This is the state that top traders strive for. The market never stops, and your trading rhythm determines how long you can 'breathe' in it.
Trading is like breathing; rhythm is life. Every opening of a position is like inhalation, requiring patience to wait for the market to present opportunities; every stop-loss is like exhalation, decisively letting go to move forward. True trading masters know how to maintain their breathing rhythm in the storm of the market—positions as stable as breath, decisions as calm as exhalation. Let discipline be your diaphragm, and let patience be your lung capacity; you will find that profit is just a byproduct of natural breathing.
