u/ReadingTheSign23

So I have this bot that lost money for me day in and day out for 3 months. Saw on /reddit you can just flip a losing strategy and you make money.

So I flipped every signal it gave me. Bought on sell signals, sold on buy signals.

Yup. Still losing. just the other way around.

Turns out when your strategy is totally noise, flipping it just mirrors your noise. Mind blown.

At this point might as well just give up and not trade at all. Pretty sure that would've neem a profitable strategy.

My parents think I sit a slot machine all day pushing buttons hoping something comes up. Every time I tell them about trading they ask how much I won or lost like I went to casino.

I try to tell them about risk management, stop losses, that trading is a skill based job. but never understand. They just smile nod say OK then when are you going to get a real job?

My girlfriend thinks I stare at stock charts all day and magically paper prints drop out them. She doesn't understand why some days I can make $500 and others I lose $300. All she looks at is the bottom line and wonders why I cant predict that.

How does everybody else deal with this? Do you just avoid talking about trading to family? Do you have a simple explanation that works?

Sick of having to defend my job to people who don't understand it.

I thought I'd forget a mistake after making some of them.

Boy I was wrong.

I'm human. I forget things. Seems like I'm also capable of making the same mistake over and over again with varying levels of confidence.

What's one lesson, habit, or rule you wish you had written down when you were new?

I was about to buy an eval today.

Decided to read through the rules one more time. I don't usually do that, I normally just skim and click buy.

This time I caught something I almost missed. A rule about maximum daily loss that was way tighter than I expected. I thought it was standard setup but this one was different. If I'd bought the eval and blown it on day 1 I would've been so pissed.

It's crazy how easy I could have clicked through without reading. That's how they get you I guess.

Anyone else got a story about a rule they missed and regretted later? I feel like reading the fine print is the most important part of this whole prop thing.

I can normally identify where I want price to reach.

The problem is me getting impatient before it actually happens.

I enter too early. I spend the next couple minutes anxious, and realize I caused my own stress.

How did you learn to wait for the real setup

This is something I've noticed about myself.

On my personal account I'm more aggressive. I'll risk bigger positions, I hold longer, I take more trades.

On an eval I'm super cautious. I take very small positions or put stops too close.
Sometime I even skip trades that I would normally take.

But the funny thing is, I think I'm doing it backwards. I should be more careful with my own money and more aggressive on the eval because the downside on the eval is just a small fee.

But my brain doesn't work that way. The eval feels like I'm being tested so I get nervous. The personal account feels like "whatever, it's my money, I'll do what I want."

This is something I've noticed about my self.

On my personal account I'm way more aggressive. I'll risk bigger positions, I hold longer, I take more trades.

On an eval I'm super cautious. I take very small positions or put stops too close.
Sometime I even skip trades that I would normally take.

But the funny thing is, I think I'm doing it backwards. I should be more careful with my own money and more aggressive on the eval because the downside on the eval is just a small fee.

But my brain doesn't work that way. The eval feels like I'm being tested so i get nervous. The personal account feels like "whatever, it's my money, I'll do what I want."

Anyone else have this weird mental split between how you trade different accounts?

Daily loss remaining?
Total drawdown?
Profit target?

Or do you just stare at your entire dashboard for a few seconds hoping nothing looks way different from yesterday?

Just curious about what number you guys look at first.