In this market, surviving long enough has never depended on how precise your technical analysis lines are, but rather on how you manage your position.

Many people’s understanding of position management only stays on the surface—how much I’ve invested and what percentage it is of my total funds. But what truly saves you in real trading isn’t these numbers, but their impact on your mindset.

Think carefully about this scenario: you go all-in on a trade, and the market suddenly drops with a big bearish candle. Your mindset collapses instantly. At that moment, you’re no longer watching the chart; your mind is full of questions like what to do, whether to add to the position, or if you can hold on. Every subsequent move becomes more and more chaotic.

Switch to a lighter position, and it’s a different story. No matter how violent the price swings, you can stay calm. As long as your logic remains intact, keep observing. If you really make a mistake, just cut your losses and walk away—you won’t feel bad. When you stay calm, your judgment naturally becomes more reliable.

There’s a very practical cause-and-effect chain in trading: the size of your position directly affects your emotions. Once your emotions turn bad, your operations start to distort. When your actions become chaotic, the final outcome is basically predetermined. People who truly understand position management never rush to act. I have a habit in trading: I never jump in immediately. I prefer to wait until the market moves a bit before assessing the situation.

You know what? Many losses aren’t because you misread the trend, but because you’re too impatient. Impatient to enter, eager to seize what you call opportunities, desperate to prove your judgment is correct. In fact, slowing down a bit can help you avoid many pitfalls.

When you truly control your position size, you’ll feel the difference very clearly. You won’t be led by two or three candlesticks anymore, and you’ll have more patience when placing orders.

Don’t think that having less capital means you can neglect position management. On the contrary, the less capital you have, the more you can’t afford an emotional outburst. The essence of position management is to leave yourself a safety net, so you can still stay in the game. Technical skills are used to improve your success rate; position management is used to ensure you’re always still at the table.

This isn’t some grand principle; it’s something you only realize after losing multiple times in the market and recovering. Once you put position management at the top of your trading strategy, you truly start trading.