Its been a little over 15 months since i started on this lifelong journey, in the beginning i had very high expectations with a short timeline. after learning/trading nearly everyday for over a year, ive realized that this is extremely hard to do at first, but as you consistently grind everyday and always be trying to expand your knowledge, it starts to become second nature to follow rules.

Many people who expect fast easy money tend to quit once they find out that you cant find it here, for me it was refreshing to know that the stock market isnt some place where anyone can go and make a bunch of money from straight off the street. REAL lasting success is only given to the traders who never get complacent, its given to the traders who wake up earlier, study more charts after the markets are closed, and the traders who track everything. the thing about trading is that the barrier to entry is almost nothing. all it takes is 500$ and signing a couple forms and now you can call yourself a 'trader'... but what alot of people dont realize is that trading is a professional career just like a doctor or an architect, one has to have the COMPLETE knowledg and experience before they are successful, this process usually takes years , doctors have undergrad then years of medical school, lawyers have years of lawschool, even carpenters and plumbers need to go through some type of trade school or training course before they can properly do their job, and trading is no different! to be honest its harder because there is no golden standard, no one universal way to learn to trade. 

the path to becoming successful is all about failing, learning from those failures, and never stopping. you cant expect someone to grab your hand and walk you all the way to the top. you must be your own motivation to keep studying and trading. 

My goals for 2018: the last time i placed a trade was october 25, its been about four months  of reflecting on my biggest weaknesses (trying to be early instead of waiting for entry signals, and not cutting losses because i change my plan after im in the trade.) and after blowing up my account 4 days after funding it again, im sure those rules are now etched into my brain permanently. i will be funding my account within the next 2 weeks and my plan is to stick to my 2 major setups that ive been tracking, im working full time so i will only be able to trade the first hour of the market open, i think this is a benefit because i tend to overtrade when i sit at the computer all day. My main focus is to protect my funds, i DO NOT want to fund my account again after this, so i will be extremely cautious about the trades i take and i will have a very tight risk... second priority is steady consistent profits, i would like to be over PDT be the end of 2018 and i believe this is a very reachable goal. ive tried as hard as i can to set myself up for success in the markets and I will never give up, so my only option is to succeed.