Average traders rely on technical trading, while top-tier traders rely on faith-based trading.

The difference between average traders and trading experts is not in their technical level, but in their trading beliefs and skills. Some people know what to do in trading and have established a trading system with long-term positive returns, but they simply cannot execute it consistently.

The main reason is that they often doubt the system and do not have a firm belief in their trading system.

Every trading system will encounter unfavorable periods in the market. When consecutive losses occur, their belief in controlling their own trading system will be questioned. Therefore, there is a famous saying in the trading world: We need not only a trading system but also a trading faith.

No one can earn money beyond their cognition; all wealth comes from a clear and correct understanding of things. Only by strengthening and cultivating one's trading skills and beliefs in the trading market can one achieve success in trading.

A trader must have the following five types of thinking to become a top-tier trader.

In trading markets such as stocks, futures, and foreign exchange, there are thousands of traders, but only a minority can become excellent traders. They stand out because they have the right way of thinking about trading.

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1. Recognize that market trends are unpredictable.

Many unsuccessful traders spend their trading careers doing one thing: predicting future market trends. They believe that successful traders must be able to grasp market trends well. In fact, top traders never predict the market; they only trade by following market trends, going with the flow.

Uncertainty is the reality of speculative markets; no one can predict the market. If one could predict the market, it would mean that the market could be defeated, but no one can do that.1. Abandon market prediction and cease the pursuit of accuracy in every single entry. Instead, adopt a mindset of entering the market to test and learn from mistakes. If I'm right, I hold; if I'm wrong, I cut my losses. Only when you truly recognize the unpredictability of the market can you be considered to have truly entered the field.

2. Avoid outcome bias.

Novice traders believe that any profitable trade is a good trade, regardless of the method used, as long as it brings profit. They always judge based on the outcome.

However, top traders avoid outcome bias because they understand that the result of each trade is uncertain. The same entry that is a loss now could be a profit in the future. They do not focus on the outcome of a single trade, nor do they put all their efforts into continuously optimizing the success rate of their trades. What they seek is a positive expected return accumulated from a large number of trades with both wins and losses.

Novice traders are responsible only for the outcome of a single trade, while top traders are responsible only for the logic of their trading, not caring about the outcome of a single trade or the recent gains and losses.

3. Embrace a casino mindset.

Casinos maintain stable profits by having a slight advantage in each game, which is then amplified by the law of large numbers, attracting a large number of gamblers. In the short term, some gamblers may make money, but in the long run, the casino's probabilistic advantage becomes apparent.

Top traders also have a casino mindset; they know that trading is essentially a game of probabilities. To profit, they rely on consistently executing a trading system with a positive expected return, repeating trades in large numbers, and leveraging the law of large numbers to express their trading logic, thereby achieving the deserved returns behind their trading system.

They trade with a probabilistic mindset, never concerned with the outcome of a few trades. They maintain a balance in their minds between the risk-reward ratio and the win rate.

4. Out of ten thousand streams, take only one ladle.

(The meaning of this phrase is to be content with a small portion of what is available, implying a focus on quality over quantity or a focus on what is most valuable or important to you, rather than trying to grasp everything.)There is no perfect trading system in the world that can capture all market trends. Many people try to capture all the profits in the market, fearing to miss out on some trends, so they are always continuously optimizing their trading systems.

Top traders understand that from the vast waters, one only needs to take a single ladle.

In fact, when you have a trading system with a positive expected return, the rest is execution, so you should focus your energy on consistent execution.

5. Profit and loss come from the same source.

The greater the risk you can withstand, the greater the drawdown you can withstand, and the higher the return you will get, just like a spring, the deeper you press it, the higher it will bounce back.

This is reflected in money management, that is, whether you can withstand the maximum drawdown of 20% or 40%, there will be a difference of twice in the position design of each order, and the profit will also be twice different.

Any trading system that talks about returns without talking about drawdowns is being dishonest.

6. Be responsible for your own trading results.

It is very important to be responsible for your own trading results. Many people blame external factors for their trading losses, such as market manipulation, interference by others, immature market mechanisms, false news, etc.

However, in fact, those who really want to trade must understand that the results of trading are caused by ourselves. Everyone faces the same market trends, so why can a small number of people make long-term stable profits, and all losses and failures are because we did not do well.Only when you truly recognize this point and genuinely take responsibility for your own trading outcomes at the root level, can we then contemplate what issues may have arisen in our trading patterns and seriously consider how to manage risks and create long-term stable returns.

Many things, many principles, can be understood over time through trading, but society is a race to see who understands them first; understanding them early versus late can lead to different destinies.