Roughly a year.. went from hemmoraging losses, to slow bleed, to BE before commissions, to BE after commissions and so forth. It's a painful process, but a necessary evil. The holy grail is hard work and persistence. Method is secondary.
i have been trading for about 2 years but quit my corporate job 5.5 months ago to daytrade fulltime. July and august were my first 2 profitable months ($62 and $25 net respectively trading 100 shrs SPY). I will consider myself profitable once I make enough to pay my modest monthly living expenses. I am going to start increasing my size starting today. Though it seems that many people do blowout at least once before making it, it certainly is not a requirement.
I am in month 3. 2k to 1.5k trading options. 1.5k to 2k trading stocks. 2k to 4k to 1k to 2k trading futures. Taking a break right now to move back into stocks, planning right now. Just not enough dough for the minis although I do like them. I hope to start making steady profits within 6 months. I have one hell of an equity curve so far.