Its been a tough last couple of months. I have been taking a lot of consecutive losses, most of which have been 1 to 1 or 2 to 1 r/r winners turned losers. (I typically look for 3to1 r/r since I am at about a 40% win rate, this would help me be a net winner over the long run) I have been reviewing my trade journal just to find anything that would help me identify errors that I can correct because as we know, The Market Is Always Right. So, I have noticed that as the market has changed and favored my pattern less I have am still looking for the 3to1 r/r when I should be looking to adjust and lock in profits quicker from what I have noticed that the follow through on these breakouts are much more short lived than in up markets. Though I do feel good that (even though it took a month worth of results) I scaled back my risk on my trades once I noticed that I was losing consistently after, what I thought to be a breakthrough in my trading consistency. These last few weeks have been brutal and I have been forced to take a step back away from the markets and re center myself instead of measure my self worth on each individual trade outcome since those outcomes are completely random. Trading small and focusing on managing my risk has kept me in the game and has allowed me to learn some valuable lessons along the way, most of which have been taught in video lessons and DVDs by Sykes, but lets just say I am one of those folks that doesn't learn until I live it or go through it then reflect and say to myself "so this is what Sykes was talking about."  I am now looking for ways to be better at capital preservation, and in the meantime I continue taking trades (my setup) regardless if I think they'll work or not so that I can create a large enough sample size or data reference to be able to study through different market conditions. Once I can consistently make money with this 1 setup I will then look to trade another setup to add to my current edge and be able to leverage or favor one edge over the other depending on which the current market condition favors more. I don't feel that I will fail over the long run because I have accepted that I am learning a lifelong skill that will take a few years to execute confidently and flawless. And what keeps me in the game is my love of the challenge and my focus on the process instead of the results. Once I am leveraging my edges in the right market conditions, the money will only be byproduct of my skillset and mindset. I hope this serves as a breath of fresh air for any newbie (like myself) currently struggling. This is all part of the journey and it will only get easier as we stick with it and follow our rules and risk parameters./ As Tim always says, "Its A Marathon Not A Sprint"