A very sobering observation: 90% of people in the crypto world fail, not because they judged the direction incorrectly, but because they never live to see the day the trend pays off.

So don’t think about fancy strategies; the first rule is—don’t die first. How much you earn is a second matter.

**Three ironclad rules that everyone uses to survive the cycle**

The easiest step to overlook is to lock in how long you plan to hold before entering. It’s not about "seeing the situation," you must set a cycle. Short-term sounds exciting, but retail traders have a very high failure rate with this, so it’s not recommended. Mid-term should be at least 3 to 6 months; if you want to participate in a full bull and bear cycle, prepare for 2 to 4 years.

After entering, only give yourself two reasons to exit: either your logic is proven wrong, or you’ve reached the preset cycle or target. Price consolidation doesn’t mean your logic failed—don’t be fooled.

The second critical factor is position sizing. Whether you can hold on or not has nothing to do with how much you believe in this coin; it purely depends on how much money you’ve invested. The simplest and most resilient allocation is: 60-70% core position (never move), 20-30% tactical position (used to release emotions), 10% bullets (only move in extreme panic). You’ll find that as long as you don’t go all-in to gamble your life, your mindset immediately becomes more stable.

The third often overlooked point—profit-taking periods actually require stricter discipline. This sounds counterintuitive, but the right time to control your hands is exactly when you’re making money. Write your profit-reduction plan in advance: when to reduce in the first phase of the market, how much to reduce; when to stop reducing in the second phase; under what conditions to add back in the third phase. Without this plan, the end result is either making too much and feeling guilty about selling or missing out.

**Consolidation phase tests your patience the most**

Market sideways movement is the easiest time to wear down your mentality. But in fact, this stage is an opportunity to accumulate chips and adjust your mindset. Those who can endure until the next wave of market are often those who treat sideways as a "period of cultivation" rather than a "waste of time."