I think Rachid's right on the money with his post. I started day trading mid-July last year and started out with fantastic gains. I was trading full time with no distractions right after a nice vacation. In late August I resumed work on a post-grad teacher certification program because I wanted a backup in case trading failed. The classes with in-classroom practicums demanded 30 hours a week of my time, and trading for a living while learning to trade took up another 50 hours a week (a lot of research and review every day after the close and on weekends). Once classes resumed I was stressed to the gills and began losing money, then losing confidence. In November I cut back to a single 1-credit class and had a small profitable month. By mid-December I decided to take a break from school (couldn't afford it for one thing) and focus on trading full time. December was a slightly more profitable month, and first quarter this year was fantastic as I focused completely on trading. I was up 30% on the year until I had to relearn a lesson again that hadn't stuck. (You can be rockin' it 95% of the time and blow it on that one exception to your rules.) I don't think I would've made progress if I hadn't made the full time commitment and de-stressed my life. So my take on it is work a regular job and save up enough to trade full time long enough to see if you can be successful. When you do this, MASTER RISK MANAGEMENT so it's totally inviolable. I'll repeat this it's that important: You can blow it on that one exception to your rules. You may already follow this journal, but if not, I recommend it highly; it's a clinic in how to be a successful trader: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?threadid=148752
Yeah, if he keeps on doing the right thing until he dies from exhaustion we will all be better off, no SSI to pay... What kind of prop firm is he with? If he gets with a good one with training he should be making some long coin in no time...
Since you must pay the bills and the non-trading job is doing this, I suggest you only trade part of the day right now. You need to be fully rested when trading. Taking a few hours off in the middle of the trading day for a nap or only trade until lunch. Maybe trading remote from home would make this approach work better. I think it is more important to be at your best for part of the day than half-ass for the entire day.
I work at a mattress store. we're empty here most the time, so they let us persue other interest on the side. I log in to my trading account, open up trade ideas, turn on the tv to cnbc, and trade or at least watch for trades. Somtimes I'll be on youtube for hours or watching some stupid show on VH1, lol and i get paid for it . It still sucks balls though, as I'd rather be at home trading, but hey.
I trade during the day, and am an underwater fire fighter at night. Working the "night shift" has its advantages, as there are very few fires to fight.
It's unbelievable how many fucking assholes there are that delight in other's failure. But then again, these are the same boatload of idiots who couldn't trade shit! To OP: Don't give up. Learn the basics of trading. Send me a PM and I'll set you up.
This was a joke, I had saved enough to live on. If I could do over I would keep the job until completely ready.