The first level, facing the market in complete confusion, not understanding anything at all. This stage is 'Seeing the mountain as a mountain and seeing the water as water.' Seeing a bullish candle means it's up, so go long; seeing a bearish candle means it's down, so go short. Losing money is normal, making money is also normal—it's just a phase of gambling on luck. The keyword for this stage is 'stimulation.'
At this level, some traders who aspire to engage in speculative trading begin to understand: blindly trading will inevitably lead to failure. The low threshold for speculative trading is only reflected in the amount of money involved, while trading skills have their own barriers; one cannot succeed without learning.
Thus, they start reading books, joining groups, and seeking mentors. In short, they begin to systematically learn trading techniques, referred to as 'building a trading system.' During this process, they occasionally come across some essential aspects of trading and can sporadically perceive fragmented knowledge from some online experts. They might have also paid to participate in some high-quality training courses.
They enter the second level of trading: 'Seeing the mountain is not a mountain and seeing the water is not water.' They have realized that the market is not as simple as it appears on the surface. Their understanding is increasing, and they begin to formulate rules for their trading. However, there is very little written by true trading experts, both online and in print. Most information remains at the theoretical level, and much of it is incorrect, lacking practical application. Even when some experts occasionally share core insights, many people find them incomprehensible or seem to understand but cannot apply them in practice.
At this stage, most people will go through a long, lengthy time. They wander between heaven and hell, appearing to understand everything and know everything, yet still losing money when they try to operate. In fact, traders at this level have two significant issues: First, most have never seen how truly successful traders operate; everything is reliant on imagination. For example, in the last round, everyone only saw the successful trades of Fatty, Tony, and Bitcoin King, but what were the specific trades? What methods did they use? Nobody knows... What about the years in between? Nobody knows... This leads many to blindly imitate the experts' methods, but in reality, they only get a small glimpse of what those people did, resulting in frequent setbacks for the imitators.
Second, they know too much, but the truly useful knowledge is minimal, and much of what they have is incorrect. Thus, they find themselves wandering, entangled, and hesitant amid various constructions and subsequent demolitions. This stage is indeed the most painful; it seems that everything is executed according to 'doing the right thing,' but the results are always wrong. The more they study, the less clear they become about what is right and what is wrong. The keyword for this stage is 'despair.'
As a result, some individuals begin to simplify, discarding the ambiguous knowledge and principles. They continuously refine their systems, summarizing particularly useful patterns from profitable trades, building a simple yet effective trading system, training their control ability, and strictly executing according to system signals, finally mastering a 'single effective move.'
At this moment, trading enters the third level: 'Seeing the mountain is still a mountain and seeing the water is still water,' but this mountain is no longer that mountain, and this water is no longer that water.
They can generally understand the market. At this stage, self-control is vital. Technical skills are no longer the most important; they fully comprehend the importance of the system, practicing their 'single effective move' to perfection, becoming familiar with patterns and scenarios, repeatedly capitalizing on opportunities they have profited from before. They can control their impulses, holding a respectful awe towards the trading market, willingly giving up all trades outside the system. The keyword for this stage is 'walking on thin ice.'
By this level, trading is considered successful. All signals outside the 'single effective move' system are abandoned, training excellent patience to wait for perfect trading opportunities, marking them as skilled traders, as making money is no longer difficult; the market has become their cash machine.
Finally, some top experts enter an even higher fourth level—'No mountain, no water, no moves, no patterns.' Traders at this level deeply understand the core logic of market operations. Their actions have transcended the constraints of technical skills, establishing a philosophical system of 'Tao.' All behaviors in the market can be explained by 'Tao.' They begin to earn money using logic, and technical skills become optional tools; this group of people is the true 'scalpers.' The keyword for this stage is 'light and breezy.'
The progression of a trader requires step-by-step advancement. There are no genius players that fall from the sky in this market; every successful trader's journey involves enduring hardship and unforgettable pain. Every mistake that should be made will be made, and every pitfall that should be fallen into will be fallen into, making it normal for novices to continuously lose money and for experienced traders to struggle for years without profit. Very few traders can reach the third level, while the fourth level is even rarer.
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