Cleaning up old items over the weekend, I found my trading journal from three years ago. The naive handwriting recorded my bold words at the time: "This time I will definitely catch the trend," with a crooked smiley face drawn next to it.

Flipping a few more pages, I saw the records of trading BNB. Even though I had set a stop-loss level in advance, I kept convincing myself to "look a little more." As a result, -3% turned into -6%. Those stop-loss lines that were repeatedly erased and redrawn are like increasingly blurred boundaries on a cognitive map.

What is the biggest misconception in a trading career? It's not pursuing perfect technical indicators, nor is it the accuracy of predicting market trends. The real bottleneck is not understanding your own capabilities. The market operates according to its own logic, and that can't be changed. But holding onto the line you drew at least helps keep your mindset stable.

The core of risk management has never been external; it’s whether you can recognize yourself clearly. Stop-loss is not about admitting defeat; it’s about respecting boundaries. Those traders who survive longer all understand this principle.

*Personal thoughts and sharing, not investment advice*