"Patience is the key and confidence in our own abilities is essential"

Chasing quick profits is one of the biggest mistakes made by traders who fail to complete our Trading Objectives. The subsequent losses then lead to a loss of self-confidence, which then creates other unnecessary losses. You can read what our FTMO Traders think about this in the next part of our FTMO Traders Q&A.

Trader Denis: "A profitable trader should always be comfortable and hungry for more knowledge."

What do you think is the most important characteristic/attribute of a profitable trader?

I believe that a profitable trader should always be smart enough to know when to sit on his/her hands and when a profitable opportunity presents itself. A profitable trader should not struggle establishing a profitable opportunity. As much as risk is an essential factor, a profitable trader should have a proper risk management skill and a good strategy to enable him profit from the opportunities that present themselves in the market. Patience is key and confidence in his or her abilities is essential. A profitable trader should always be comfortable and hungry for more knowledge which is wise but also while enhancing that knowledge sticking to what works for that particular trader is important and it’s what makes every trader unique.

Where have you learnt about FTMO?

FTMO is the prop firm to be with for any trader out there that wants to grow. Their pay outs are decent from what I’ve seen in reviews online on trustpilot.com, YouTube, Facebook and Telegram. The customer service is spot on, and any issue raised is within short time resolved by either chat or email. FTMO has earned the trust of traders worldwide and has a sound reputation just stick to the rules and all will be well.

What was easier than expected during your FTMO Challenge or Verification?

Trading is not easy even on a demo account. It's all psychological. The only thing that was easier was the longer verification period during the Verification.

How has passing FTMO Challenge and Verification changed your life?

Passing the FTMO Challenge and Verification presents an opportunity to turn around my life to a more stable and revenue generating opportunity. It's also an opportunity to experience the prop world and give me an opportunity to scale up and be part of a prop firm that is growing at a fast pace.

How did you eliminate the factor of luck in your trading?

My 10 years’ experience has taught me not to rely on luck when it comes to trading. All I rely on is an educated guess that relies on both fundamentals and technicals to enable me to make an informed decision when executing trades.

What is the number one piece of advice you would give to a new trader?

Take your time, you will make loses and you will learn more from your losses and it's okay to make losses because we all learn from mistakes. Don't quite after blowing account, be well informed, enhance your knowledge and be passionate about trading. Be positive.

Trader Tyree: "Do not force a trade just because you want to rush the process."

How did you eliminate the factor of luck in your trading?

Once I started following the current trend, I become more profitable. It’s as simple as that. I follow the trend and once I see a set up, I execute my position.

Describe your best trade.

Sometime last week (end of March) I placed a trade and literally 5 minutes later it hit my take profit and I gained 60-80 pips on one position!

What was the most difficult during your FTMO Challenge or Verification and how did you overcome it?

The most difficult thing with the FTMO Challenge is the first stage. Making 10% of the account with only being able to lose 10% is kind of hard. It’s not too bad but what I do is, I take less trades than I usually would take so I can find a set up that has an 70% probability in my opinion to play out in my direction. The less sure I am about a trade during the 2 stages of verification, the less likely I will take the trade.

Do you have a trading plan in place, and do you follow it strictly?

Yes, I have a trading plan. I probably don’t follow it strictly enough because I listen to price action. So, if price is telling me to enter but my plan is telling me to wait, most of the time I wait but sometimes if the set up looks really clean I will take it anyway.

What was more difficult than expected during your FTMO Challenge or Verification?

Nothing was really more difficult than expected but I will say, if you don’t have great risk management, it will take some skill and talent and maybe a little bit of luck in order to come back from your loses.

What is the number one piece of advice you would give to a new trader?

Follow the trend. Do not trade when price action is consolidating. And most importantly, be patient. Do not force a trade just because you want to rush the process. Also, make sure you do your research and study 10x harder than you did in school. Lots if people don’t become profitable until their 5th years and longer but this is only going on my second year, and I already passed 2 challenges because I stayed up all night and day studying and reading books. I would recommend reading “Trading in the zone” this was the first book I read, and it changed my life.

Trader Eilidh: "Each trade has been placed for a reason."

How did you manage your emotions when you were in a losing trade?

Managing emotions throughout the whole process was hard but definitely expected, I knew that this wouldn't be easy, and I wasn't wrong. When in losing trades, I just kept reminding myself that it isn't over until the trade is closed and that one losing trade means nothing. Each trade has been placed for a reason and reminding myself of this helped. Understanding that it only takes one trade to pull it all back is a must and keeping focus and consistent is important. I knew that I had the ability, it was just putting it into practice under the added pressure.

Do you plan to take another FTMO Challenge to manage even bigger capital?

Eventually. Personally, I want to focus on one account for now and see how the coming months go. I wouldn't want the pressure of another challenge to cause my emotions to spiral putting the new account at risk. I think when I have traded on this account and feel content with the process only then I will attempt a second challenge.

Has your psychology ever affected your trading plan?

Of course, but I try too always remind myself of the end goal and enjoy the process. This tends to work and keeps my emotions low. I have recently began journaling my trades and I believe going forward it will make me much more disciplined and help with my emotions whether that's for a winning or losing trade.

What do you think is the most important characteristic/attribute of a profitable trader?

Patience. Don't feel the need to always be in a trade. Let your winning trades have some breathing room and manage them accordingly.

What was the most difficult during your FTMO Challenge or Verification and how did you overcome it?

My first few trades were losses so not letting this get to me was probably the hardest thing I had to do especially knowing I had only 30 days to complete a now even bigger profit target. I knew I just had to stick to my plan and continue which ended up working out fine.

What is the number one piece of advice you would give to a new trader?

Study the markets and get a good education about what it is you're doing. Personally, I think for me having not placed a trade (including on a demo) until after months of learning helped me get to where I am today. I had read about the % of traders who fail and didn't want to be one so knew education was the most important part. Also, if you’re doing the challenge, try keep it to yourself, the added pressure of others asking how it’s going and feeling a need to please them could put you off.

Trader Edward: "Hardest thing for me has been not to let my trading be governed by my emotions."

What was the hardest obstacle on your trading journey?

There were a few. Staying motivated after setbacks has been a challenge but the hardest thing for me has been not to let my trading be governed by my emotions. Normally quite emotionally led so I've had to find a way of managing that. My trading system helps by giving strict exit criteria so when I'm in a trade, I don't have any decision making to do.

How did you eliminate the factor of luck in your trading?

I learned to think of it as a balance of probability rather than luck. I have clear rules for entering and editing a trade and backtest with these rules regularly. Knowing that these give me a positive expectancy over a large data set gives me confidence.

How would you rate your experience with FTMO?

Very good. Tight spreads and I like the metrics.

Describe your best trade.

Probably the one that passed me the verification on EURUSD. It wasn't my biggest winner but definitely the most satisfying. It spent a few hours around my entry price and came within 1 pip of stopping me out. About a year ago I would have panicked out of that too soon but here I held as my strategy said to and it went on to make about 70 pips.

What do you think is the most important characteristic/attribute of a profitable trader?

I think being humble, inquisitive, and eager to learn is very important. I started off very cocky, convinced that I knew better and that held me back for a long time. I only found any consistency when I started recognizing my own shortcomings and committed to working on these. I still consider myself a novice and want to develop as much as possible.

One piece of advice for people starting their FTMO Challenge now.

Manage your risk and trust your strategy.