Last week I went down a rabbit hole. Not the "I bought at $3k" stories.
The other ones. The "I lost my savings" posts from 2021-2022.
I found 5 detailed ones. Amounts were different: $347k, $52k, $11k, $8k, $3k.
But the story felt the same every time.
**The Pattern I Kept Seeing:**
None of them had a sell plan written down. Not one.
The posts all started happy: "Bought at $55k, halving is coming, easy 2x".
Then the middle part: "Dropped to $40k but I didn't sell, it has to go up".
The ending: "Sold at $22k because I couldn't take it anymore".
**My Notes From Reading This:**
I'm new compared to 2021 people. So I wrote 3 rules for myself in a notebook:
1. **Write The Exit First:** Before I click buy, I write where I'll sell. Both profit and loss. On paper, not in my head.
2. **The 5% Line:** If my position drops 5% from entry, I close it. I can always rebuy later. But I can't rebuy lost capital.
3. **Take Some Off The Table:** If it goes up 20%, I sell 25% of it. The rest can ride. But some profit gets booked.
**Why I'm Sharing This:**
The $347k guy's post went viral here. I read it 3 times.
He didn't hide the mistake. He said "I had no plan".
That stuck with me. Because charts are easy to draw.
Discipline isn't.
**Your Turn:**
What's one trading rule you wrote for yourself after reading someone else's loss story?
Not your story. A story you read that made you change something.
Drop it below. I'm collecting real rules from real readers.
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**Disclaimer:** I'm documenting what I read and my personal notes. This is not financial advice.
I'm learning publicly. Don't copy my rules - make your own based on your research and risk tolerance.
