{"id":602946,"date":"2024-01-03T13:20:06","date_gmt":"2024-01-03T12:20:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ftmo.com\/?p=602946"},"modified":"2024-01-03T13:23:34","modified_gmt":"2024-01-03T12:23:34","slug":"sometimes-taking-a-break-can-be-beneficial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ftmo.com\/en\/sometimes-taking-a-break-can-be-beneficial\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cSometimes taking a break can be beneficial\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
Trading can be mentally demanding, and continuous exposure to the markets can lead to fatigue and stress. Taking breaks is a proactive approach to maintaining a healthy and sustainable trading career. And what do our new FTMO Traders Nicholas, Guadalupe, Cody and Kamoy have to say about it?<\/em><\/p>\n Do you plan to take another FTMO Challenge to manage even bigger capital?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes. I passed 2 100k Challenges and I have another 100k Challenge close to passing the Verification stage and I just started another 100k Challenge.<\/p>\n What do you think is the most important characteristic\/attribute to become a profitable trader?<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019d say at a base level you have to have passion and love for the game along with drive, discipline, and focus. But sometimes taking a break can be beneficial. You just have to listen to yourself. I took a year and a half break from trading after 4 years of working hard at it and it was actually super helpful, and it allowed me to come back to it with a new set of eyes and I started seeing things in a new way. Not saying you have to take that long of a break but that helped me a lot.<\/p>\n How did you manage your emotions when you were in a losing trade?<\/strong><\/p>\n Nobody likes losing but you have to become good at losing to be successful. Once I realized that a losing trade was just falling on the wrong side of probability relative to me (assuming you didn\u2019t make any technical or psychological mistakes) then it didn\u2019t bother me anymore because I trust my edge. But sometimes I would get a little worried when I\u2019m on a big losing streak. To put my mind at ease I\u2019d check my trades and if the answer was yes, I would take those trades again even though they lost then I know I\u2019m doing everything right and it\u2019s just probability playing out (in this case a bunch of losers in a row).<\/p>\n Do you have a trading plan in place, and do you follow it strictly?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes. I have a small playbook of memorized rules I made for myself, and I follow it strictly 99% of the time. If I make a mistake, then I forgive myself and add a solution to the playbook and now if I make that same mistake again it\u2019s unacceptable. Good to read the playbook everyday if you don\u2019t have it memorized.<\/p>\n What was more difficult than expected during your FTMO Challenge or Verification?<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019d say the hardest part was not having the previous gains from the last stage to give you a buffer. After the first stage, the account gets reset back to baseline so I would get a little stressed if I entered a small losing streak right away. But I didn\u2019t let that affect my trading. I still remained consistent. You cannot trade with a fear of loss.<\/p>\n What would you like to say to other traders who are attempting an FTMO Challenge?<\/strong><\/p>\n Make sure you have proven data on spreadsheets that prove you have an edge in what you\u2019re going to do. Have a plan and a playbook. Don\u2019t go in blind and hope to get lucky. The first thing is to build that data and spreadsheet (I used a year’s worth of data) and the next is to tweak variables like entries and exits to your liking and create a losing streak chart to make sure you don\u2019t drawdown more than 10% too often. Once you have all that then working on your trading psychology is last so you can effectively take your paper trade results into a market where you have skin in the game.<\/p>\n Do you plan to take another FTMO Challenge to manage even bigger capital?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes, I plan to max allocate.<\/p>\n What do you think is the key to long-term success in trading?<\/strong><\/p>\n The key to long term success is being disciplined enough to know when to walk away from a trading day. I started finding success when I started to learn how to preserve my capital as opposed to making more capital.<\/p>\n What was more difficult than expected during your FTMO Challenge or Verification?<\/strong><\/p>\n I found passing the Verification more difficult because I was almost done which made me get into my head too much about my next trades.<\/p>\n What was easier than expected during the FTMO Challenge or Verification?<\/strong><\/p>\n The easiest part was managing my risk because that was something that I could control.<\/p>\n Where have you learnt about FTMO?<\/strong><\/p>\n I learned about FTMO through my trading mentor.<\/p>\n What is the number one piece of advice you would give to a new trader?<\/strong><\/p>\n The number one piece of advice I would give to a new trader is to apply what you\u2019re learning as soon as you learn it. A lot of people want to learn as much as they can before they enter the markets but physically entering the markets is going to help you have a better understanding of how the markets work, even if you\u2019re not sure what you\u2019re doing.<\/p>\nTrader Nicholas: \u201cYou have to become good at losing to be successful.\u201d<\/h3>\n
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Trader Guadalupe: \u201cThe easiest part was managing my risk because that was something that I could control.\u201d<\/h3>\n
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