You see, you are being fooled by yourself right now. What you are experiencing is the illusion of freedom and independence. These two things only come to the successful/profitable trader. Of course they come with time in the trade. You are fooling yourself by thinking you HAVE the freedom and independence of the trading life but really have nothing other than a path set forth before you. At least you know that you must get a "real" job right now to pay the bills because your trading is falling short. This is a good thing. In other words, you see that trading can one day let you experience independence from working for others, but right now you must concentrate your efforts on those things that will allow you to get further down the path. It doesn't happen overnight and takes a lot of self-discovery and discipline, but for now you are only intoxicating yourself with what could be. You see the first couple of sips are intoxicating and are what usually lure the masses into destruction. The Sirens are just warming up my friend, don't let them lure you to the rocks. For now, you have seen that the "Matrix" exists, but you are far from being able to "unplug" from it and survive on your own. Good Luck!
Perhaps it is somewhat market dependent, but I find that trying to trade breakouts is a fairly difficult and expensive way to trade. As for the use of multiple time frames, I am familiar with the conventional wisdom and respect the rationale of the people who use them. However, I think it may equally be a matter of how well you understand your principal time frame beyond the context of just the most recent setup. Of course, my frame of reference is quite short term, so that may explain my relative myopia in part.
It can be as expensive as can be lucrative. Most breakouts do fail, so it's important to know when to cut losses. Thats the key imo.
I can see what you mean about the poison part. Being independent for a while can basically ruin you for normal "workin' for the man" kind of work. My next door neighbor had his start-up bought out by a big company back during the tech boom. He hasn't had to do any real work as long as I've know him, since '99. I've often wondered what would happen if he suddenly had to reenter the job market through some financial missteps, or whatever. Imagine the horror of having to come up with a resume and marketing story just to get an interview. Imagine what kind of attitude you'd bring to an office after being independent for so long and losing it. Man, no wonder they were jumping from the windows in '29.
you could always start your own business. I'd recommend an internet business as it has low startup costs and relatively easy.
Do what everyone else does........sell what you don't know!!!. Pick an indicator, any indicator, claim how you found the secret to using this "magic" indicator, and then post your trades in hind sight to show the world how great your calls are. When the smoke and mirror dog and pony show reaches hysteria, offer to share your newfound secret for a monthly fee that just one great trade from your calls will pay for. By the time the noobs and losers realize you are full of it, but staunchly defend you anyway, a hundred more will be knocking on your door begging to get in. It's a no lose proposition!!!!