Becoming a consistently profitable trader wasn’t something that happened overnight. I blew accounts. I doubted myself. I followed random signals and even lost a $25,000 prop firm account due to greed and poor discipline. But from those painful lessons, I built the foundation that helped me not only get funded again—but stay funded for over 3 years on a $50,000 account.
In this article, I’m going to share with you 5 powerful trading habits I developed that changed everything for me. These are not theories—I lived them. If you’re serious about becoming a better trader, this may be the most important lesson you read today.
Let’s dive in.
1. Journaling Every Trade – Learning From My Own Data
One of the best decisions I made as a trader was starting a trading journal. I began documenting every trade: entry, exit, why I took it, the setup, my emotions, and the result.
There were times when I’d lose trades and feel frustrated. But when I looked back into my journal, I saw patterns—like overtrading after losses or entering too early before key levels were confirmed. That journal became my personal teacher.
✍🏾 When I stayed funded on my $50,000 prop firm account for over 3 years, it wasn’t because I avoided losses—it was because I learned from every one of them. You can read that full story here.
2. Strict Risk Management – Protecting My Capital Like My Life
I learned this the hard way. I blew my first $25,000 funded account because of greed, copying random signals, and poor risk control. One big lesson I got from that experience was: “You don’t need to win every trade. You just need to manage your losses.”
Now, I never risk more than 1-2% of my account per trade. I size my positions using a reliable position size calculator—which I’ve made available on our website for every trader to use.
If you’re still new to risk management, I highly recommend reading this breakdown on understanding risk-to-reward ratios in trading. It changed my game.
📖 Also check out this Babypips guide on risk management: https://www.babypips.com/learn/forex/risk-management
3. Emotional Control – Mastering the Inner Game
This is where most traders fail. I’ve had my moments too—revenge trading, chasing losses, closing trades too early out of fear. What helped me was building emotional discipline through meditation, stepping away from charts, and setting trading hours.
Trading is 80% psychology. You can have the best strategy in the world, but if your mind is not calm, you’ll sabotage yourself.
I wrote an entire guide on how to stay emotionally stable during market volatility that includes practical tips I still use today.
4. Backtesting and Continuous Learning – Never Stop Evolving
Even after I got funded, I didn’t stop learning. I kept reading, watching videos, studying charts, and—most importantly—backtesting my strategy. I took 100 screenshots of my setups, studied their behavior across different sessions and pairs, and built confidence in my edge.
This habit helped me refine my entries, eliminate unnecessary indicators, and rely more on top-down analysis, structure, and price action, which are core parts of what I now teach at FN-FOREX ACADEMY.
I encourage you to read: The Role of Continuous Learning in Financial Markets—because the markets are evolving, and so should we.
And if you’re still figuring out your trading style, this Babypips article may help:
🔗 https://www.babypips.com/learn/forex/what-kind-of-trader-are-you
5. Routine and Structure – Treating Trading Like a Business
I wake up, check the calendar for economic news, do my top-down analysis, mark key zones, and wait. I don’t chase the market. I let the market come to me. That discipline was hard to build but extremely rewarding.
A structured routine prevents emotional trading and keeps you focused on process, not outcome. If you want to become consistent, create a winning trading routine and stick to it.
Need help with that? Start with my article on how to create a winning trading routine.
🔚 Conclusion: Habits Will Make or Break You
There’s no holy grail in trading, but there are proven behaviors that separate winners from losers. For me, it came down to:
- Journaling and reviewing my trades
- Applying strict risk management
- Mastering emotions
- Backtesting and learning every week
- Creating and following a structured trading routine
I encourage every aspiring trader reading this: develop your own system—but more importantly, develop the right habits to support it.
👉🏾 If you’re still struggling, check out our other articles on https://fnforex1.com and start building yourself the right way.
And for more beginner-friendly learning, Babypips remains a goldmine:
🔗 https://www.babypips.com/learn
Please is it best to journal trades digitally or like in a book n if digitally which app do your recommend