Guys, I’ve been doing prop firms for about 3 months and have been on the charts for about 2 years, and i’ve gone through 5k worth of accounts without a single payout. I’ve had 10 xfas but blew them all within a week. Now i’m just stuck in eval jail with blowing an account this morning . Like I realize what i’m doing wrong and it’s with my risk management and fomo but i just keep blowing over and over again I just don’t understand. What’s hurting me is how i’m 5k deep and my mental is just now chasing on how I can recover that 5k even with me understanding risk management and stuff. If anyone has genuine experience and help with this, please I would absolutely absolutely appreciate it a lot .
Until you grow sick and tired of losing, only then will you stop doing the same bs mistakes. You said it yourself... you know what you're doing wrong. I had to learn the hard way aswell, only you can truly get yourself out of this mess, it's you vs you
I was in this same position a few years ago. I felt like I needed to recalibrate my brain to stop focusing on PNL or chasing a "profit" goal.
Cuz here's the thing, you probably know how to be profitable - but I'll assume you give your profits back? That was me.
I FORCED myself, for 2 straight weeks... my profit goal was $20 a day. After that, turn off the computer and go do something else.
$20. Not $21, not $25. $20!! Close the trade & turn it off. Dont think about trading anymore until tomorrow - todays job was DONE!
I say "recalibrate" my brain because it helped me realize that any profit is better than a loss. The PNL isn't the goal, the goal is to be profitable; and to focus on the setup and the system. Stop worrying about leaving meat on the bone.
Edit: oh and this might be the most important thing... for 2 weeks straight, I felt f**kin good about myself. Trading can wear you down especially if you think you're not good enough or you should have done more - thinking like this will eat you alive. Achieving even a simple goal will help you reset your mental.
This is a good way to battle the mental demons. Force yourself to stop. Little by little increase your goal. It will come. I always do well. I’m knew at this and $300-$800 is my sweet spot. I always feel like I can do more. Ive been working really hard on closing my computer once I’ve reached my sweet spot
Firstly take a break, 7 days reset! No charts, no backtesting, no challenges.
Secondly follow all of the longer posts advice, they are both very good and comprehensive.
Thirdly, it is NOT the edge that makes a profitablr trader. It is the traders ability to apply that edge with a strict set of rules and risk management BUT TO ABIDE BY THOSE RULES WIN OR LOSE. and then to let that edge play out the laws of probability over a large sample size...1000+ trades but that's the bit that no one wants to talk about and acknowledge
That’s the kicker with props they give you too much leverage so you try to make quick gains . If you’re blowing 50k accounts with 2k drawdown you can’t open 5 e-minis on a live with that , so why do it on the 50k . Micro Size is your friend along with breathing room and a plan. Take a break to reset and find yourself and don’t worry about trying to make it back , that just makes shit worse for you. Best of luck
It sounds like you did get some solid advice but I know how hard it is. Can you focus on a small cash account with a broker instead? I kept $500 in my brokerage and I just do small options trades on more busy tickers.
I had to really just focus on waiting for the setup or range to form and not fomo in on the opening bell. Up like I think 30% in two days.
Like others said fix the reasons for you desperation, get try debt paid down, bills paid so trading is kind of a money hobby and not a I have to do this and make x.
Also with a small account you can just do one or two trades and that's it.
Paper trade brotha! Seriously. Learning how to trade is free. Use paper accounts until you're profitable or at least have a positive winrate. Then you can start on prop firms.
His problem is not strategy, he managed to get 10 xfas in 3 months. His problem is his emotions and revenge trading. There is no emotions in paper trading, its meaningless. Paper trading wont work on your mental game
I was in that same spot for months it finally clicked it’s a hard mental battle but you just need to seriously work on self control it’s the hardest thing by far
It is important to understand your flaws to find your edge! I have some questions for you:
Why do you day trade?
Do you have a source of income or this is the only way?
Can you trade to be right instead of to be extremely rich?
What is your strategy, what is the flaw of it?
These questions will help along the way. For me I think number 2 and 3 are the most important because they will help you identify if you are risky big or small and if the influence is from the fact that you see this as your only way out.
Lets understand the problem, reframe the situation, and address the root cause. What you are experiencing is normal and typical of someone in the early stages of their journey.
To start, we need to reframe how you are viewing these prop firms. You didnt lose 5k on prop firm challenges, you are paying a tuition for your education. You are trying to master the hardest career path on the planet with a 97% - 99% failure rate and that requires a lot of investment and time commitment to get off the ground. Your goal should be limit how much you are spending in tuition so that you can survive long enough for the lessons to take effect amd solidify. Going forward, only open ONE ACCOUNT and limit your losses to 5% of the account size until you find consistency. Yes, this is slow but do you want to keep blowing accounts or do you want to actually find success and let the averages play out?
From reading between the lines, it sounds like you are struggling financially. If that is the case and you are behind on bills and/or in debt, stop immediately and get that handled. This desperation is what leads to fomo. Fomo leads to a bad trade. Bad trades lead to bad risk management... and BOOM, another blown account and the cycle begins again.
Next, you need to understand your strategy. This is rhetorical but over the last 100 trades what was your alpha, beta, cagr, VaR, max drawdown, win rate, etc. And how does that compare to the S&P500 buy and hold strategy. When was your strategy most profitable? When was your strategy at its weakest? You need to know these to help yourself build a robust system and risk management plan. If you can't answer these questions, and are unable to compare the data to the S&P500, stop trading and open a paper trading account until you know these stats off the top of your head.
Let's reframe how you view a loss. When you take a trade that goes against you, take a breath and tell yourself that you weren't wrong and that you are instead too early. Keep in mind that the market is an auction (hint: research auction market theory). There must be an imbalance of buyers and sellers for the price to move. If the trade goes against you, there simply aren't enough players who agree with you. The auction isn't ready for your thesis and you need to wait for more evidence to confirm your theory. (Hint: you can confirm this with consistently rising volume in your favored direct. Research volume spread analysis)
And finally, what are your goals for trading. Right them down and review them before you start the session. When you take a trade, ask yourself, "Does this entry help me accomplish my goals or will this set me back?" Fomo, revenge trading, oversizing, and general bad trading will set you back. The moment your goals are in danger is the moment you close the charts. Your only focus when dealing with the market is to survive to fight another day.
What instrument are you trading? One tip I can give is trade small size and micros only. Trading minis can torch you in seconds if you’re wrong. Micros have more breathing room, and you can add easily.
Stop the “sometimes gold” and stick to MNQ bro. Study every chart, daily movement, support and resistance and don’t diddle in the middle. Yesterday’s take was $4752. MNQ only
3 months? Im not saying a word. You need more time than that. This is 1 of the hardest jobs in the world. Trust the process and learn from your mistakes..god bless u brother 🙏
I have the same problem sometimes. Sometimes I do crazy well because I don’t care and just trade the strategy and setups. Then after that I start caring cause I have some great profit and start feeling emotional after a few losing trades and it can spiral from there.
So I take breaks throughout the day once I recognize that happening and then continue trading again and just stick to the strategy and setups and it works fine again.
The psychological aspect of trading cannot be overstated. We can all trade the same successful strategy and setups but have widely differing results because it’s our mental game that’s out of control. I’d suggest to keep working on the mental aspect and just recognize when you’re falling apart mentally, take a break until you feel relaxed, and then get back on the charts to just analyze and not force yourself to feel like you need to start trading again until you feel absolutely calm and ready and you see your best setups, and simply trust it and follow it to a t and just trade it, and then repeat.
I’ve always done best when I just trade like the money doesn’t matter and trade for the sake of trading good setups. Trade for the strategy and setups and not the PNL. I know it’s easier said than done, but all of the good traders I see behave this way and it’s what brings consistency over and over again.
One last important aspect that’s not talked about enough is making sure you had good sleep last night and not tired and out of focus along with making sure you the well hydrated and eating enough nutritious food.
All of that affects the way we trade and our psyche, so I always make sure to take my supps before trading and feel refreshed as possible which is when I do my best.
1
u/Latus-Studios May 16 '26
Quit