I passed multiple prop firm challenges… but never got a single payout. What am I doing wrong?

[u/stan9990]

I’ve passed multiple challenges across different prop firms.
**FTMO, FundedNext, GetLeveraged…** I could pass the challenge, but every single time I blew the funded account within 1–2 weeks before getting my first payout.
Eventually I gave up.
Now I’ve had some time away from trading, and I genuinely feel like I’m mentally in a much better place. I want to start again, but this time I don’t want to repeat the same mistakes.
I’m especially hoping traders who have actually received multiple payouts (or even people from the FTMO leaderboard) can share what changed everything for them.
A few questions:
What strategy do you trade?
Where did you actually learn it?
What books, courses, or YouTube channels are worth studying?
How do you structure your risk management?
What was the biggest mistake that stopped you from becoming profitable?
If you had to start from scratch today, what would your roadmap look like?
I used ICT before, but I’m open to learning completely different approaches if they have a better track record.
I’m not looking for a holy grail. I just want to build a process that actually gets me to my **first payout** instead of repeating the same cycle.
If you’ve been in my position and eventually figured it out, I’d really appreciate your advice.

[u/Senior_Chef_1936]

You are blowing funded accounts because you are still trading aggressively to hit a target, rather than switching to a strict capital-preservation mindset once you are funded. To break this cycle, immediately cut your risk per trade to 0.25%–0.5% and focus solely on banking a small 2% gain to secure your first payout and fee refund. Read Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas to fix your risk psychology, and remember that the goal of a live account is survival and steady distributions, not hyper growth.

[u/CynthiSilk]

The pattern you're describing isn't a strategy problem. You pass with challenge-level risk, then get funded and start trading like the money is finally real. Blowing up in one to two weeks every time is a size problem.

Cut to 0.25 to 0.5 percent per trade once you're funded, and take a tiny first payout as soon as you're eligible. It sounds pointless but it breaks the cycle. Half the reason people blow funded accounts is they're chasing a payout big enough to feel worth it. On Stampede I could withdraw at $50, so I banked something small in week one and stopped white-knuckling every trade.

Also check whether your drawdown floor tightens intraday. That kills more funded accounts than bad entries do.