Sizing: never all-in, never rent money

Only ever put in money you could lose completely and still sleep fine. Not rent, not an emergency fund, not a loan against your credit card "just this once." A pump.fun ape is closer to a lottery ticket than a savings account — treat it like one and you won't get hurt when it goes to zero, which most curve launches eventually do.

A common piece of discipline: once a position hits roughly double, pull your original amount back out. Whatever's left is now house money, and you can let it ride with a much lighter grip on your stomach.

The real account killer isn't a single bad trade — it's what happens after. Revenge trading, throwing bigger size at the next launch to "win back" a loss immediately, is how disciplined traders turn one bad night into a wiped account. After a painful loss, the correct move is to step away, not double down.