Can somebody help me with this? NQ spikes UP 7:46 a.m. and I'm in a short position. My stop on Trading view is set at 25,993 and my fill is at 26025. That is 32 handles of slippage at 10 micros and so it is a $640 loss versus a $100 loss. This is on a Trading Views Paper account. So: 1) is this a function of the paper account being less efficient in getting a fill? Or 2) is this a function of Trading View itself not getting a fill, and should I be executing on Ninja Trader or some other platform?

Let me keep it TOO real with you for a second. Most people should NOT be traders. Like... at all. And I'm not saying that to be a jerk. I'm saying it because I've SEEN what happens when people who aren't built for this... try to force it anyway. The emotional wreckage. The strain on relationships. The absolute CHAOS it brings into their lives. The blaming everyone else. And this is just with Prop Firm Challenges! Which is the ONLY thing I teach by the way. I will NEVER guarantee you any money whatsoever or any payouts! But I can teach you to trade prop firm challenges! Because here's what nobody tells you about trading... It's not JUST about learning chart patterns or risk management. (Though yeah... you need that too.) It's about going to WAR with your own psychology. Every. Single. Day. And most people? They're not equipped for that battle. They think they are. They WANT to be. But wanting it doesn't make it true. I've watched traders sit at their screens... Watching their accounts bleed out... Meanwhile their wife is in the other room wondering why they're so distant. Their kids are asking why daddy's always angry. And they're telling themselves "just ONE more trade" will fix everything. Spoiler alert: It doesn't. Because the market doesn't CARE about your mortgage payment. It doesn't give a dang that you NEED this win. And when you're trading from a place of DESPERATION... When your emotional state is tied to every tick of the chart... You've already lost. The market will PUNISH emotional trading. It'll take your money... AND your peace of mind. Then it'll mess up your marriage as a bonus. (All while you're telling yourself you're doing this FOR your family.) Here's the thing though... I'm not here to talk you OUT of trading. If you're still reading this... If you didn't immediately get defensive and click away... Then maybe... MAYBE... you're one of the ones who can handle it. Because the people who SHOULD be trading?

Once upon a time... There was a trader just like you. Scrolling through a trading community. Watching other people post their payouts. $14K here. $47K there. Even the NEW guys were cashing $1,500-$4,000 for the first time over these last couple weeks. Every day... This trader would tell themselves the same story: "Must be nice for them." "They probably got lucky." "I'll never get there." And here's the thing... Your brain is wired to do this. It's called social comparison bias. And it's been keeping humans "in their place" for thousands of years. Back in caveman days... comparing yourself to the tribe kept you alive. Now? It just keeps you STUCK. Because the second you start comparing yourself to other people's wins... Your brain shifts into survival mode. You start overtrading. Forcing trades that aren't there. Revenge trading after a loss because you saw someone else post a W. Trying to "catch up" to a timeline that isn't even YOURS. Here's what the data shows... 83% of traders who blow their accounts do it because of emotional decision-making. Not because they don't know the strategy. But because they let comparison dictate their execution. They see someone else win... and they NEED to win too. Right now. That's not trading. That's ego protection. Until one day... This trader had a realization. Rami didn't get $14K because he's "special." Steven didn't cash $47K because he has some secret DNA you're missing. The new traders hitting their first payouts? They're not smarter. They just stopped comparing. And started EXECUTING. They got their egos out of the way... They let seeing other peoples results actually fuel them that the system works instead of letting it ruin them… Followed a proven process... And let the results come to THEM. Because of that... Everything shifted. Instead of forcing 10 trades a day trying to "catch up..." They took 2-3 HIGH PROBABILITY setups. Instead of spiraling after a loss... They stuck to the plan.

If you are honest, that thought has probably crossed your mind more than once. It usually sounds like: - “Once I dial this in, I’ll pass.” - “I know I’m close, it’s just not clicking yet.” - “Other traders have something I haven’t found.” That belief did not come from nowhere. It was built from real experiences. What is usually hiding underneath that thought... “My strategy isn’t good enough yet.”? You have had green days and even green weeks, but could not hold it together long enough to pass. I have watched traders switch strategies every eval and fail them all the same way, not from bad entries, but from breaking rules after a loss. “If I refine my entries, everything else will fall into place." Trading content reinforces this constantly. Better indicators, tighter setups, higher win rate. One of my 1 on 1 students dramatically improved entries and still failed because his sizing doubled after the first red trade. “I trade fine until something random goes wrong.” It feels random because no one ever slows the pattern down. When I tracked it, the same sequence showed up every time. Early loss, "I got to get my money back", forced trade, eval violation. “I just need more discipline.” You assume discipline is a personality trait. In reality, discipline came from rules that worked even when emotions were high, not from trying to stay calm all the time. “Once I pass one, I’ll relax.” So habits never get addressed. But pressure does not disappear. It only changes form. Traders who do not train for pressure repeat the cycle. None of this means you are bad at trading. It means you are human. Another one of my students Adam, believed passing a prop firm was about finding the right strategy. Every day he tweaked entries, watched more videos, and told himself he was almost there. He refused to listen to the strategy I thought would work best for him to use, but continued to try to "beat me". (weird right?) Until one day he noticed something uncomfortable.

Let me know you were here below!