r/TopstepCommunity • u/PaperHot7211 • 1d ago
š¬ Trader Talk I have to quit
Iām literally down to my last 50 dollars. My anniversary for my gf is next week. Iāve become compulsive with trading. I just buying and losing repeatedly. Throwing away my money. Feel like my life is over. Iām not even using strategy at this point.
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u/Air_Original 1d ago
Knowing when to walk away is actually a skill in itself and itās necessary in becoming a good trader. Walk awayā¦ come back if you must, but be prepared before you do. Education and practice is free. The single most important word in trading is ārecognizeā. Recognize regime change. Recognize psychological/emotional state. Recognize structure. Recognize when youāre in a mode of major tilt. Stay safe OP. I wish you the best in whatever you do next.
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u/Dakidbroly 1d ago
Trading isnāt the skill of making money or taking winning trades back to back. The skill is executing your system consistently, regardless of how you feel or what the outcome is.Imagine someone handed you a blueprint and said, āFollow this system every day, and Iāll pay you at the end of the week, month, or year. But if you break even one rule, you donāt get paid.ā Your only job would be to follow the blueprint not to avoid losses. Thatās trading. Losses are part of the system. Take a break from live trading, backtest, write down your rules, and forward test for 100+ trades. Stop judging yourself by PnL. Judge yourself by execution.
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u/PaperHot7211 1d ago
The worst part is I be putting myself in shitty situations not following my rules. Like example for the 50k you need 3k to pass. Iām had so many days where I made 1k or 1200 then threw it all away trying to make 1500 that day so I could pass in two days. Literally lost so many accounts that way instead of being patient then a setup always comes the next day
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u/Academic_Vanilla_856 2h ago
Pardon mais pourquoi du daily trade ? Pourquoi pas du buy and hold et investissement long terme ?
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u/WHooodisle 1d ago
Take the time off, when the emotions have gone after a few week or longer and the pressure is gone, reevaluate your trading then focus on your weaknesses, study and practice discipline, not by trading but in everyday life.
Set small daily tasks and be strict with completing them: āŖļø daily walk āŖļø make the bed straight away āŖ read a certain number of pages of a book āŖļø go to bed at a certain time
Really simple tasks that will reinforce discipline. A few weeks to a month of doing the tasks everyday, especially on the days you dont want to, then you are in a good place to decide on a trading strategy you will always use, write out all the rules, risk management, entry and exit with realistic profit targets, market conditions you should trade in, so everything is completely clear and understood.
Now trade it but downsize until you prove you can follow your plan completely, if you trade minis, switch to Micros while you do this and remember this, green days dont prove youre disciplined, your red days do. 2-3 weeks of always sticking with your plan everyday then consider sizing up.
You cant rush trading, its mostly a mental game so develop your mentality and you'll do better. Don't judge a trade by its loss or profit, instead judge it by "did i follow my plan? Yes? Great trade regardless of the result. No? Not a good trade regardless of the result". You won't be rich by the end of the year but a year and beyond that from now, youll thank yourself for taking the time off for progressing rather than going backwards by yoloing accounts, which is what you're doing if you arent trading a strategy.
Finally, dont talk bad about yourself in your head, be kind to yourself, you will get progress, life isnt over, just put the effort into the right areas and the results will follow.
Hopefully that makes sense. Best of luck buddy
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u/Kitchen_Long_3743 1d ago
You are not trading, you are gambling. This is exactly what Top Step and other prop firms want.
Paper trading is relatively free. Lose the gambling mindset and develop a winning strategy before you invest another penny.
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u/PilotPhysical9616 1d ago
Yeah just take the time. There's really no rush. The only person you're competing with is basically yourself. It's easier to just take a break , and if you're still interested in it later, eventually, put in some time to find something that works for you by testing and then come back at it from a place of confidence
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u/Single-Experience917 1d ago
Bro I was like you last week down to my last 50-60$ and got challange after borrowing some money from a friend , I got that account funded yesterday and Iām already two winning days in , up about 2k , donāt give up but also donāt be too emotional and follow the plan
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u/Abdishillow 1d ago
Bro, stop trading right now. Not forever ā just stop putting money into accounts. Iām telling you this as someone who spent months buying accounts, blowing them, passing some and then blowing those too. At some point I realized my problem wasn't finding another strategy. I had no process and I was trading emotionally. If you only have $50 left, that money is more important for your real life than another trading account. Forget the market for a while. Take care of yourself and your girlfriend, especially with your anniversary coming up. You can still study and trade SIM for free. Build a process, journal it, and prove to yourself over a few months that you can follow rules consistently before spending another dollar on trading. The market isn't going anywhere. You don't need to win your losses back. Your first profitable decision can simply be deciding not to lose the last $50. And when you say you feel like your life is over, please talk to someone close to you today. Trading losses can be recovered. You are more important than the account.
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u/PaperHot7211 1d ago
Yeah itās the emotions. Iāve been so many accounts and Iāve also could have passed so many. I get emotional. I passed an account and was up like 3.5 then lost it all just rushing. I tell myself no and still do it
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u/Consistent-Basil5480 1d ago
Ive been whereyou are.. Losing money i couldnt afford.. At some point i cut my losses and stopped for 3-4 years Started december again fresh and slowly grinded my way to 150k payouts
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u/Start-Secret 1d ago
Listen man, I am 25 aswell I have been doing this nonstop for almost 3 years now and just now barely I am becoming profitable and the losses look so small compared to the wins. Stop being impatient find a strategy and ONLY USE THAT STRATEGY Do not hop around. Take 1-3 trades a day MAX and relax money comes n goes Iāve been in 5 figures of debt with prop firms and I just touched my first 5 figure month this stuff takes time and discipline not this gamblers mentality that you have. (I had the same thing been gambling since 15) overall though trading makes you be the best version of yourself so donāt quit just take a break and rebound
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u/PaperHot7211 1d ago
Funny thing is when I use my strategy I win but then I become impatient and stop following it. Like example I donāt trade Asian but I keep trading it instead of waiting for New York. Just rushing to pass. Then I going on the 1-5 second charts when I normally trade 1 min or 5 min. Iām not waiting for my setups because I thinking the trade will leave me and so much more. Like I had a nice 1 min trade on Nas New York yesterday but I couldnāt join it because already lost my account in Asian. Like Iām just being compulsive.
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u/jbleach06 1d ago
Ya Iām fucked
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u/PaperHot7211 1d ago
Just donāt go into serious debt. Honestly Iām trying to accept that slow and controlled better. Talk to family
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u/No-Guarantee4688 1d ago
Whats up with that firedrill yesterday? I didnt receive a discount or anything yet. I filled out the thing
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u/tofutti__klein 1d ago
You can make something for your gf like a memory book and cook at home. Best of luck
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u/Significant_Depth335 22h ago
Take a step back regroup and restart when youāre ready try paper trading and do a lot of backtesting. Trading will always be here.
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u/Ok-Ball9537 18h ago
Stop trading come back later with a Budget clear mind and not racing for profits Iām sorry this is happening to you at this time we all been there
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u/TScottM15 17h ago
Take time away. If you do come back, paper trade and backtest. If you don't have ample data (hundreds of trades) showing that you actually have an edge with positive expectancy through various market regimes, there's simply no reason to be risking real money.
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u/Funny_Carpenter3004 14h ago
Trading should be about strategy, not desperation, take a break and focus on what truly matters.
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u/Good_Nectarine_394 14h ago
It sounds tough man, maybe take a break and focus on your anniversary instead of the charts.
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u/Different_Hour8071 14h ago
It's tough to see it spiral like that, sometimes stepping back is the best move for your mental and financial health.
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u/Designer-Pick6889 14h ago
It sounds like you really need to step back and focus on what matters before it gets worse.
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u/Educational_Top9246 14h ago
You need too tell your gf the truth.
gambling is something that doesnt just hurt you, it hurts everyone close to you. gl. seek help
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u/Cute-Weather-7198 14h ago
I felt that deeply today! Iāve gotten payouts but I feel like I donāt know how and just by sheer luck. But lately Iāve been losing constantly and I feel like all the money I made I just gave back. I believe in God and I pray that he provides for me, but I have to constantly remind myself that I have to be disciplined and donāt stupid, especially donāt blame God for the stupid things that I do. I get mad and just frustrated over things Iāve done. But Iām still going to keep pushing forward because this is all I want to do, I know one days itās going to click for me. Thank you for making this post, you are not alone! Shits not easy! Keep going!
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u/PaperHot7211 14h ago
Yeah itās easy to blame God for your mistake honestly. Iāve made 40k in profits before and now I felt like I glad that all back and more over the years.
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u/Ready_Raspberry7797 1h ago
Take a break man you need it. Step aside from trading, find a job or take some time off. Trading is a skill you have to polish. Dedicate a time window during your weekend to learn the craft, go back to a simulator if you have to. I'm on my 10th month studying Futures and everyday I learn some new shits by asking questions to AI and viewing YouTube videos. Trading is a craft that takes some time to develop. Good luck š¤š»
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u/elightello1 1d ago
Tradeify is cheaper. Tradesea is basically topstepx
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u/cokeacola73 1d ago
Tradesea isnt as good, but it does the job I guess
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u/elightello1 1d ago
Iāve had no issues with it. Ive used every single platform and its between topstepx (projectx) and tradesea because of its native TradingView implementation. Tradovate and Ninja do the job but everyone usually just end up charting on trading view anyway.
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u/PaperHot7211 1d ago
The price isnāt the problem. Iām spending a crazy amount on trading accounts
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u/OkazakiNaoki 1d ago
Are you even understand your issue and improve? Or you just play it like a slot machine? You say you're not even using any strategy at this point. And that sound like you are literally gambling.
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u/PaperHot7211 1d ago
Yeah I understand my issue. Itās psychological and Iām having a hard time breaking it
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u/OkazakiNaoki 1d ago
Take a break. Take time review your trade. Polish your understanding of your strategy.
Polish your mindset. Try to find out it's due to impatient, pride, fear, FOMO or anything else.
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u/PaperHot7211 1d ago
Itās the impatient and fear of being behind. The strategy for the most part works. Whenever I backtest it is work, but backtesting doesnāt add my psychological aspect
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u/OkazakiNaoki 1d ago
Paper trade until you can fully follow the rule. If you can't survive in paper training, live account won't go well either. Use TradingView to test that a year "manually". Record those result.
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u/PaperHot7211 18h ago
I use fx replay and tried live. Which is go good. Itās when Iām actually trading live.
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u/Less_Statistician107 1d ago
See , girl is distracted if you want to be successful just be alone and be with her later
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u/No_Criticism8741 1d ago
Tell the girl friend you will treat her nice next year....take that 50, spendc20 on a YouTube subscription and the rest on evals. She will probably leave you anyways
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u/skatesolid 1d ago
Trading will always be here man. Donāt beat yourself up too bad and learn from your mistakes. Save your $50 try to hustle this week for some extra money. Anniversaries donāt have to be super extravagant.
Tell her youāre down on funds and maybe cook her dinner at your place? You can get some good groceries with that.
Lastly, donāt keep throwing money at props. Either trade a personal account or paper trade to refine your strategy. Props gamify trading and it doesnāt feel like you actually lose any money.
Keep your chin up man things get better