From Conservative to Cash Cow: My Bold New Trading Plan Unveiled!

Four years ago next month, I embarked on my journey to master the art of trading in the financial markets. This post summarises where I've dedicated my time, the opportunity costs, some regrets, and my future aspirations.

When I first started, funding companies weren't in my plans. I committed myself to learning the nuances of trading, aiming for a conservative gain of 1 to 2% per month. I began with demo trading and gradually moved on to trading my own capital.

Achieving 20% annual returns is considered world-class, and that became my benchmark. The initial two years were spent in intense learning, followed by a year of demo trading where I collected data, tested strategies, and discovered more about my trading personality.

Over these four years, I've achieved significant milestones—I've never depleted a live account and, in the past 17 months, I've not only protected my capital but also grown it. While I may not win any major trading awards, I've averaged around a 1.4% monthly return, and in my first year full time, I managed to get near 20% return, a feat I'm particularly proud of considering the rarity of such success.

However, this journey hasn't been without costs. Focusing on trading conservatively, initially doesn't attract serious investors, and it might take years to do so depending on one's ability to grow an account. My conservative approach paid off in risk management but didn't teach me to trade aggressively, which is a style rewarded by new funding companies. Although I've spent 95% of my time honing conservative trading tactics, I've also felt the opportunity cost of not adopting a more aggressive approach earlier.

Transitioning to a more aggressive trading style and scaling my business represents the next phase in my journey. I'm extremely satisfied with the strategies I've developed, having tirelessly created three distinct approaches across four diversified assets. Now, I'm ready to elevate my trading to a higher level. I've proven my ability to manage risk and grow an account conservatively, but now I aim to scale not only my returns but also my assets under management.

The goal is to pass more funding challenges and secure increasingly significant payouts. This shift requires a departure from my usual conservative methods, introducing a new set of challenges. Trading is a field where each new success or solution often leads to the next challenge, and I anticipate this transition will be no different. However, I'm confident in my foundational trading skills to navigate these waters.

To achieve this, I plan to allocate a smaller portion of my capital to adopt an aggressive stance. I intend to approach the same trading setups but with larger position sizes during funding challenges to pass them successfully. Once these are passed, I plan to revert to increasing these positions more conservatively. This strategic push-and-pull will allow me to maximize potential gains while maintaining a solid risk management framework.

As I navigate these new challenges, I’m eager to hear from others in the trading community. How many of you have found yourselves focusing on trading professionally to the extent that it might have cost you potential earnings from funding challenges? I would love to hear your thoughts on how you balance building a reputable trading record with participating in and maximizing returns from trading challenges.

Share your experiences and strategies in the comments below, or join the conversation live on ASFX TV during the London market openings on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. Let’s discuss how we can all push our trading boundaries and achieve greater success together!