The nine-year trader Old Cat's deepest realization is actually "waiting".

After more than nine years of trading, if someone asks me what I am best at right now, I would say without hesitation that I am best at "waiting."
Perhaps some brethren may wonder: shouldn't a trader's core skill be precise market analysis? But in reality, the importance of market analysis in the entire trading job is minimal. A seasoned trader spends most of their time on the act of "waiting."
In the constant fluctuations of the market throughout the day, what exactly are we waiting for? To put it plainly, we are waiting for that moment when the trading advantage peaks and flashes in the market. Amid the ups and downs of the market, some signals indicate that buyers have the upper hand at this moment, while other signals suggest that sellers hold more advantage.
When the market signals favoring buyers significantly outnumber those favoring sellers, the market is likely to tilt towards buyers (and vice versa), which presents us with an excellent opportunity to enter.
The summary of these market advantages that we are waiting for is referred to as "trading strategy" in trader terminology. A trading strategy is generally composed of multiple conditions that must be met in the market. Only when market conditions that align with the trading strategy appear will our chances of winning in the market reach their highest.
In some people's view, trading means constantly analyzing market trends and predicting the market's next moves, then immediately participating. But I believe this is a misunderstanding of the market. The market itself is filled with randomness, and most of the time, market fluctuations are completely unpredictable. What we need to do is not to try every possible way to win in every market situation, but to decisively enter when a situation with a high probability of winning arises. If we compare trading to hunting, what we need to do is not to predict the prey's action route (which is also difficult to predict), but to decisively shoot when the prey enters the range.
When you have been on the trading path long enough, you will realize that the essence of trading ultimately comes down to "waiting." Learn to avoid chaotic markets and only engage when you have the most confidence; your trading ability will naturally reach a new height.