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Table of Contents

The 9 Characteristics of Successful Traders 7

The Four Levels of Traders: How to Go From Novice to Expert 19
How has TopstepTrader Made a Difference in the Lives of Our Traders? 23
What’s the next step to becoming a funded trader? 26



4
What is TopstepTrader? Who is TopstepTrader for?
Why trade your own money if you don’t have to?
We’ve all heard the old saying, “It takes money to
TopstepTrader is for traders of varying backgrounds
make money”. That statement is particularly true in
and experience levels who are in search of, or in need
trading. If you want to make money in this business,
of trading capital. We’ve funded a 17 year old trader
you first need the capital to open a brokerage
who had only been trading for a month to 20+ year
account.

career traders looking to get out of the investment

That is no longer the case. bank or corporate trading world for some more
autonomy.

You provide the trading, TopstepTrader provides the

capital. In short, we fund traders. We evaluate your
trading in a simulated account, if you adhere to our
risk criteria and meet the profit target, we’ll let you
trade our money and give you 80% of the profits. It’s
as simple as that.
If you’ve got trading interest or experience,
TopstepTrader is a great fit for you to take your
trading next level without any risk.

Who am I and why should you listen to me?

My name is John Hoagland, and I’m a 30-year trading veteran and the Director of Trader Development at
TopstepTrader. I have a long family history in trading and have worked as a floor broker, independent trader,
and proprietary trader over my three decade tenure at both the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Chicago
Board of Trade. Early on, I traded agricultural products but my main focus now is Equity Indices and Crude Oil
Futures. My primary trading style is based on Market Profile® and order flow and volume analysis.

I am a strong believer in “the market” being only a capsule of market participants which are what really make
up price movement. Much like a team is nothing without individual players playing within certain parameters,
such as skill, rules, and work ethic, so too does the market act as various players try to perform their best
within the certain parameters of the market, such as technology, strategy, and capital. This school of thought
has led me to be a constant student of the market, with the players and parameters constantly changing at
any given time.

As well as working with TopstepTrader’s funded traders, I’ve provided thousands of hours of trading
education in the form of webinars, private mentoring, and educational beginners’ classes. Seeing traders I
have mentored succeed is as rewarding as making profitable trades myself.

6
The 9 Characteristics of Successful Traders
Based on TopstepTrader’s combined 150+ years of trading in the markets and evaluating and funding
traders from around the world, we have found that the most common characteristics of successful
traders are humility, honesty, responsibility, coachability, tenacity, flexibility, serenity, introspection,
and emotional intelligence. In your trading journey, increasing your self-knowledge as well as your
market knowledge is extremely important for your development and eventual success. In the next
chapter, you will learn the significance of and how to develop each characteristic.

Humility
So, you've had a very successful day - one of your best. Perhaps you've been on a winning streak
lately, seeing a great boost to your bottom line over a series of days. That's great. Your mental capital
is at an all time high and you feel like you can do anything. All the hard work has paid off and you
finally feel like you're “getting it”.

If you have spent any time in the trading industry, you have had moments like this. If you're really
good, you were able to hold on to those profits - even add to the streak. But often times these
"streaks of mastery" are followed by huge, quick drawdowns where the gains are lost, or even worse,
a complete blow up happens and you are left to wonder what you did wrong. It's happened to almost
every trader I know at some point or another, myself included.

If you've ever said to yourself, "I get it now" or, "Now I don't need to work so hard," you had better
prepare yourself for a change. If you think after a successful series of trades or trading days that it's
"time to change everything because now I can really play," I urge you to take some time and re-think
that mindset.

When things are going well, you are most vulnerable. That's the time to continue on the path that has
been bringing you success. It's not time to ignore it or let yourself be overcome with what we used to
call the "God complex", when you think you can do anything and it will be right.

When you finally realize some degree of success, it is so easy to let these things rob you, but you
don't have to. After a very good trading day, make it a rule to only risk a certain amount the next day
and stick to it. Maybe it’s adjustment to how many trades you let yourself take; find what works for
you.

If you become nervous about a streak of winning trades or profitable trading days ending, I suggest
ending it yourself. Take a day off. The pressure to continue the streak is now broken and you can
return to the focus and mindset that created the winning streak in the first place.

Humility. That is the word. Keep your feet on the ground. In front of your screen or on the trading floor
are not the places and times to celebrate. Stay humble and make the right choices. Your job is to
start everyday with the same goals: preserve capital, and get paid. You do not need to be making
donations to the market. Do what works for you and never stop working to improve.

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 FEATURED TRADER

MERGODON
Budapest, Hungary

Mergodon is an example of a trader who exemplifies humility throughout his life

and trading. Whether it’s the result of his Hungarian culture or just his nature, I’ll
never know. Regardless of where it comes from, I could tell from the first time I
spoke with him that he wore his heart on his sleeve.

He was extremely active and transparent on a popular trading forum where, at the risk of being criticized,
he documented the good, the bad, and the ugly of his trading journey. He paid no attention to the
naysayers, and stayed the course, developing in his own way while holding himself accountable to a
community of others. In a sense, Mergodon was naked and exposed, for the world to see.

This is incredibly admirable in the trading community because most often traders are associated with big
ego’s and cocky sentiments. But Mergodon wasn’t worried about the perception of others, he was
therapeutically stripping away his ego through his posts, communication, and reflection; which translated
into incredible trading success.

Honesty
Honesty is an integral part of being a successful trader. If you can’t look in the mirror and realize all of
your own flaws and weaknesses, the market will find them and exploit them. This is arguably one of
the hardest tasks in trading, and in life. We want ourselves to be so much more than we actually are
that our self-image gets blurred.

We want to be thinner, so we tell ourselves that not ordering guacamole means we’re on our way,
while we ignore the truth that we still ordered the chips. In other words, we sometimes tend to view
our trading through rose-colored glasses, while ignoring our own faults in the plan or discipline.

Some of the best traders I’ve ever come across address the issue of honesty through journaling.
Journaling is a daily intake of your mindset, strategy, strengths, weaknesses, etc. It is an opportunity
for you to spill everything onto paper. How did you sleep? Is your spouse still mad at you? Are you
worried about your child making the sports team? Did you take your profits too soon? Was that a
solid trendline or were you just hoping it was? Journaling allows you to put everything onto paper and
then reflect on your results and what changed to achieve those results.

In short, a journal acts as your mirror. Use it.

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 FEATURED TRADER

DOLBYTIME
Illinois, USA

Dolbytime is a religious journaler. He could write a book based on his trading

experiences, even at such a young age, and that is what makes him so good.
He has been able to be completely sincere and vulnerable with himself, which
has allowed him to make changes in habit and grow his abilities.

Once Dolbytime successfully completed his Combine, he recounted a bloodied and battled trading history
and experience. The accounts he had gone through, the money he had lost, the mistakes he had made,
he viewed it all as learning. He learned his limitations and what works for him, but more importantly he
learned what doesn’t work for him. If he weren’t honest with himself, he never would have learned a thing.

Responsibility
It’s easy for traders to blame everything else, instead of themselves or their strategy.

If it weren’t for that Inventory report, I wouldn’t have gotten stopped out. If it weren’t for that support
level breaking, I’d have a winner. If it weren’t for the moon being in a waxing gibbons phase, I’d have
made $3,200. You get the picture.

Responsibility is closely related with honesty. If you can’t be completely honest with why something
did or didn’t work, you can never take responsibility for it. A good way to gauge this is to monitor
how often you take responsibility for losing trades versus winning trades. When something goes right,
everyone wants to take credit. However, when it goes wrong, it’s never their fault. If you can get to
the point where you are 100% accountable for everything you do and fail to do, you have found
responsibility.

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 FEATURED TRADER

DARAKE
Idaho, USA

One of the most important things a trader needs to learn is that the market is
never wrong, never. The only person, people, players that can be wrong, are
the market participants. “I’ve come to the realization that price is the most
important factor in analyzing markets. I follow the news and do fundamental
research - but none of it tells me where to buy, or where to sell.” These are the wise
words of DaRake, one of our funded traders. These words contain something that most traders lack,
personal responsibility.

So when DaRake says that price is the most important factor in analyzing the markets, what he means is
that most everything else is just noise. At the end of the day, price is determined by market participants,
market participants are the market. I am a market participant. If my price entry or exit is wrong, I am
wrong.

Coachability
Another characteristic we see in our successful traders is that they’re very coachable, which means
absorbing and considering everything that you have learned throughout your trading journey. Many
traders have sought formal trading education, had a mentor, read numerous books/blogs/articles,
spent countless hours in chat rooms, etc. However, not one of our successful traders has been “self-
taught.” I say this because even if you somehow managed to live under a rock your entire life before
you ever executed a trade, from that point on, the market taught you.

The market is your greatest teacher. You need to be able to learn from it and to learn from your
mistakes.

Regardless of whether it is a mentor, class, trade room, or the market teaching you, the benefits will
be measurable and dramatic as long as you are open to learning.

10
 FEATURED TRADER

FREDDECKER
Illinois, USA

FredDecker honestly and wholeheartedly adsorbs and considers everything

he learns.

FredDecker is a sponge. This trader has been a part of our community for 3+
years and has arguably shown more growth than any other trader over that same
time period. He is a daily listener to the TopstepTrader Squawk Radio, which is
broadcast throughout the day.

Our Squawk Radio consists of market commentary, levels and value areas, guest educators, trading
psychologists, and a community of traders who chat and provide real-time feedback amongst themselves.
As a steadfast member of the Squawk, FredDecker has been able to capitalize on and retain some of the
best in trading content available to him. It is a testament to FredDecker that after 3 years, he has pages
and pages of notes, reflections, trade plans, journals and more, all of which have greatly impacted his
commitment to being coachable and teachable.

To this day, even as a Funded Trader, you can find FredDecker active in the Squawk asking every question
under the sun to whomever he can. FredDecker embodies the old adage “knowledge is power”.

Tenacity
“Energy and persistence conquer all things.” - Benjamin Franklin

Tenacity describes the person who never gives up. Who, in the face of losses, picks back up and
tries again until they succeed. Truly grasping the concept of being tenacious can change a person’s
life. Once they realize that anything is attainable through persistence and hard work, they understand
that their vision is within reach. One of my favorite ways to develop tenacity in new traders is to
promote a mindset of incremental improvement. For example, if you are improving in your trading
daily, through journaling, coaching, researching, and putting your learnings into action, that equates
to a huge return over the course of a few months.

Always approach your day, no matter what happens, with the mindset that today could be the day
where you will have a new breakthrough in your development as a trader. As Thomas Edison so
eloquently put it, “I have not failed, I have just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Review your Trade Journals at the end of every month and put together a synopsis of what you
learned, then review the month’s synopsis every quarter and journal a quarterly synopsis, then finally
journal a yearly synopsis. This will allow you to see the big picture of yourself improving over time,

11
and you will realize that your persistence is paying off, making tenacity an easier trait to exemplify.

FEATURED TRADER

RINNA
Sochi, Russia

Rinna’s trading motto says it all: “Whatever you do - never give up!”

Rinna hails from a city most recently revered for hosting the 2014 Winter
Olympics and her competitive spirit and drive are two attributes that have made
her a successful trader.

Rinna has been in constant development since she started trading. Having experienced a lot of the ups
and down of trading and the frustrations that come with it, Rinna never gave up her dream. It’s easy to
have a bad trade or a bad day and want to throw in the towel, or not come back tomorrow, but you must
stay the course. The day you stop is the day you truly lose.

Rinna has demonstrated that in order to be successful, you have to play the game. Like anything else in
life, if it were easy, everyone would do it. Only the best traders survive in the markets, and more than any
other metric, longevity in this business may be the single greatest indicator of success.

Flexibility
“Failed plans should not be seen as a failed vision. Visions don’t change, they are only refined. Plans
rarely stay the same, and are scrapped or adjusted as needed. Be stubborn about the vision, but
flexible with your plan.” - John C. Maxwell

If your vision is to become a successful trader, here’s the reality: plans change and approaches
change. Those that ultimately are the most successful hold onto their vision, but have a “learner’s
mindset” and aren’t stubborn in their ways.

Being flexible is essential. It takes trial, experimentation, education, and an iterative mindset to find
the trading approach that ultimately works for you. Being flexible means that you are willing to try
new approaches when the current approach isn’t working. It means that you aren’t “set in your ways”
and realize that having an open mind can be a key to your success.

When we become stuck in our ways, sometimes we fail to see the obvious - like a great trade idea
that would otherwise be staring us right in the face. To develop more mental flexibility when it comes
to your trading, practice surrounding yourself with successful traders who have different approaches

12
or viewpoints than you do. Engage in intelligent discussion about your trading philosophy and take
the time to understand why others do what they do. Hold back judgement and keep an open mind
during conversations, taking mental note of when you feel yourself becoming stubborn. Squawk
Radio is a great place to start engaging with others.


FEATURED TRADER

MMCGEE
Oklahoma, USA

The ability to be flexible in trading is vital to success.

We have a recent funded trader who has embodied this characteristic to the
fullest, mmcgee. The markets are constantly changing and evolving, so as a
market participant, you need to do the same. If you’re not growing, you’re dying. If
you don’t, the market will leave you behind.

Though it is vital that traders have a plan set in place, it is also important to understand that bending the
plan can at times be beneficial. A plan still needs to take into account market state, and change
accordingly. Of all of our funded traders, mmcgee has had a remarkable understanding of the flexibility
necessary to be successful and has made small adjustments to her plan to benefit from the ever-changing
market state.

In one instance, mmcgee made a smart trading decision to not trade one day because the market was in
a very strong bull trend, which is not conducive to her trading retracements. Therefore, she decided she
would rather not trade than reach for trades she wasn’t comfortable with. There’s no telling how much
money this saved mmcgee. Sometimes the best trades are the ones you don’t take.

Serenity and the Importance of Keeping it Simple

“If you can’t explain it to a six year old, you don’t understand it yourself.” – Albert Einstein. We are all
faced with a common problem: we have too many choices and too much information.

Perpetuated by the ever increasing speed of technology, traders are faced with more information,
ideas, news, advertising, and persuasion than the mind can absorb and interpret. In the trading
arena, not only do we have all this information, we also have hundreds of tools to choose from to
help us with our trading decisions.

I have seen many traders try to use too many tools and look for a confluence in the perceived signals
generated by these tools. The more tools they use, the harder it becomes to make a decision.

13
You probably have heard the expression "paralysis by analysis”. You have also probably heard the
expression "KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid.” This expression is credited to Kelly Johnson, lead
engineer at the Lockheed Skunk Works. It is not to imply that someone is stupid, but that the
simplest solution is often the best. Professional traders everywhere will agree with this. It is very easy
to assume the more information the better, but this is one of the many paradoxes of trading.

It has been my experience that the discretionary trader who masters one or two methods of
organizing market information is the most successful, the happiest, and the most calm. He/she
experiences much less internal conflict with his/her decisions, keeping much more of the energy
focused on trading and making good, intuitive decisions.

How to simplify things in your trading to ensure a calm mind and a sound approach:

1. Remain humble. It doesn't take a genius to be a successful trader.

2. Stay diligent in your work. Continue to do your analysis and journal.

3. Define the most basic triggers for your trades and prioritize them according to importance for
each perceived market state.

4. Don't expect miracles; there will still be losses.

5. When you don't have a trade idea, stay out.

6. Keep your expectations reasonable.

Keeping things simple may help you accomplish your goals, however it can't manage your emotions.
It can help you manage your actions. We are all still susceptible to the same self-victimizing behavior
and we need to be aware of it. Having a simple trading strategy doesn't make it any harder to
manufacture trade ideas out of the emotions we feel.

Simplifying your trading and staying calm can help you succeed as I have seen it help many traders
improve their trading and reach levels of consistency and success they never thought they could
reach.


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 FEATURED TRADER

ASHMAT
California, USA

Never underestimate the importance of serenity while trading. In an industry

such as this with ups and downs and major losses and gains happening in the
fraction of a second, being able to keep a level head can be the key to
success. Our funded trader, Ashmat, has demonstrated himself to be one of the
calmest traders that I have ever met.

His preparation everyday includes visualization and prayer, contributing to a feeling of ease throughout the
day. No matter what happens in the markets, Ashmat remains tranquil. His demeanor not only reflects on
his trading success but also his personal and psychological well-being. He is able to take a step back
from a hectic situation, put everything into a proper perspective and react accordingly. Once you are able
to look at everything without bias or blinding emotions, you are often able to find the best solutions and,
ultimately success.

Introspection
“I’m reflective in the sense that I learn to move forward. I reflect with a purpose.” - Kobe Bryant

Reflecting with the purpose of improvement is an important step in developing as a trader. When we
look inward at our past and current belief systems, mistakes, habits, and processes, we can attain a
better understanding of ourselves as a trader. The key is to learn through this reflection and use it as
fuel to move forward. Dwelling on the past isn’t productive, but learning from it is extremely powerful.

For new inspiration and fuel for improvement, spend 15-20 minutes per week going over pages from
your trade journal. Write down 3 beliefs that you used to hold and the reasons why you held them.
Reflect on what led you to evolve. Not only will you see how far you’ve come over time, but you’ll
also gain a deeper understanding of who you are as a trader. 


15
 FEATURED TRADER

AYAZ
British Columbia, Canada

When traders enter into a funded account, we ask them to build and discuss
their trading plan with a member of our Scout team. Building a trading plan is
an important process where traders need to look at themselves and their
trading on a deeper level to see what drives them and where their faults lie.

Ayaz is the perfect example of a trader who is incredibly open to constant personal reflection in order to
understand who he is as a trader. This understanding and drive allowed Ayaz to build an extremely
successful trading plan to keep consistent with his trading motto “Trade by process and subdue
emotions.”

Only through reflection was Ayaz able to compartmentalize his emotions and realize that it was his
process that needed to be fed most and not his psyche. Once Ayaz realized this, he was able to focus
solely on the mechanics of his trading and strategy. Now his trading reflections consist mostly of
execution improvement and risk management.

Emotional Intelligence
As traders, we try to maintain a high level of concentration and performance at all times. The focus is
on trading plans and processes, risk and reward, indicators and charts, coding and strategies, and
about a million other possibilities at any given time. Truly, it is impossible for any human to keep track
of all the information available.

When you get to the point where nothing makes sense (we all get there), it’s time to look away for
awhile. I call this “data fatigue” and it may occur during many time frames. In the day time frame, it
might just take a good stretch or a walk to get your head clear and focused on the most important
pieces of information coming at you.

Look at yourself each day from time to time and rate your ability to concentrate on a scale of 1 to 10.
Be honest and cognizant of how your concentration levels change at different times of the day and
days of the week. Over time, after weeks or even months of sitting in front of the screen, you should
begin to notice when this fatigue builds up and you cannot muster the concentration you need and
you don’t have the clarity you are looking for. You know then that it might be time for a break.

Of course, staying in good physical shape, getting plenty of sleep, not smoking, and taking it easy on
the drinks during the trading week will help your concentration and help to keep “data fatigue” in
check.

16
No matter your physical condition, you need to step away from time to time. Maybe a walk will help,
but there are times you need to step away for a few days. Personal problems of all kinds can create
the same sense as “data fatigue”. When you have stressors in your life soaking up your energy, they
split your concentration and there is no way you can fully focus on your trading, even for a short
period.

Dealing with the issue at hand is the way to be able to put it behind you and resume trading at your
best. Depending on the stressor of course, this can take some time but it’s not worth putting yourself
or your account at risk until you are in the right frame of mind. There are occasions that will require a
little more time to recoup the energy needed for your best performance.

If you haven’t reached this point yet, you will and hopefully you’ll know you’re there before any
damage occurs in the form of losses. It’s easy to get lost in your trading and even those in the best
trading “condition” need time to rest. Personally, after coming back from some time off, I found my
vision of the market to be much clearer. I don’t know why this surprised me; I’ve been around this
block more than a few times, but you forget how much this can help you get back to the performance
you want to expect from yourself.

For what it’s worth, I hope you take the time to really think about this and make intermittent breaks an
important part of your plan, a part that you actually follow! I write this because a big part of the
reason I enjoy trading is seeing others succeed. This will help you as it has helped me and many
others. If you feel you “can’t see the forest for the trees”, it’s time to step away and clear your head.

FEATURED TRADER

VIRAJ84
Connecticut, USA

Viraj84 preps for the markets with meditation and visualization.

He has a great understanding that his beliefs guide his performance. In

trading, your mind is half the battle. It is one thing to have a trading plan and
methodology, it is another to be able to follow it. Emotions are such a major part of
trading that you need to ensure you are in the proper state of mind before ever going to “work” that day.

It’s easy to see losses or profits accumulating and make a wrong decision. This is why it’s necessary that
you have the discipline to follow your plan and not let your emotions get in the way. Trading is a process,
and you need to take the human element out of it. If you start trading based on your emotions, you will
quickly realize it is for the worst. To combat this, Viraj meditates daily and visualizes his trading day each
morning. He remains calm in the chaos of the markets and visualizes a profitable trade set up. This has
paid dividends in helping to keep Viraj focused on following his trade plan and process without letting
fleeting movements in the market determine the outcome of his trades.

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18
The Four Levels of Traders: How to Go From Novice to Expert
Every trader started as a novice. The only thing that separates novices from experts is time. Always
remember that. To move between these four levels and eventually become a highly competent trader
requires development of self and development of trading skill through mentorship, study, screen time,
journaling, and more. No matter what stage you are in currently, below are some tips for how to move
to the next level.

Novice

Who is a Novice?
Everyone starts somewhere, right? A novice is someone who is a complete beginner, and many
people in our program are starting out at this level. They have “unconscious incompetence” at first.
Unconscious incompetence means that a novice may deny the usefulness of core trading concepts
or they are unaware of the true risks of trading. Often times, this group has unrealistic expectations of
the challenges of trading and believe that they’ll crack the code and escape to their dream lifestyle
instantly. People who are new are often seduced by the simplicity and potential profitability and
experience a rude awakening.

How a Novice Can Move to the Next Level

Moving from a novice to an advanced beginner first requires one to realize that they are in fact, a
novice. Self-understanding and humility is a huge step that often leads to seeking education or
mentorship to acquire at least minimum competency. Those that move between these two stages
often demonstrate their willingness to ask questions in a trading community, begin keeping a trade
journal early on in their development, and stay engaged in the markets in a safe way.

Advanced Beginner

What’s an Advanced Beginner?

Advanced beginners are starting to develop their trading personality. They are in the early stages of
cultivating their own style, discovering the products they like to trade, understanding their risk
tolerance, and building a trading plan. Most of our traders start at this level. Advanced beginners
realize that they don’t know everything and are looking for knowledge in a safe environment. They
may have experienced past losses, but they have a learner’s mindset and are ready to expand both
their self-knowledge as well as market knowledge.

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How an Advanced Beginner Can Move to the Next Level
To go from an advanced beginner trader to a competent trader requires dedication. Continuing
education and mentorship and increasing screen time are just as important as self-reflection and self-
knowledge. Keeping detailed trade journals and spending time on a consistent, honest review of
oneself and one’s progress are important activities. Finally, using increased market and self-
knowledge to develop your trading plan with accountability is a step that cannot be overlooked.

Competent

Who is a competent trader?

At the very least, a competent trader is maintaining an account above it’s initial balance. They
understand that patience and capital management trump profits. A competent trader’s self-
knowledge begins to surpass market knowledge in importance. With increased time and confidence,
their profits grow. They’re making fewer mistakes and have realistic expectations when it comes to
trading.

How a Competent Trader Can Move to the Next Level

Going from a competent trader to an expert requires continued and ongoing growth and confidence
building. Sticking to the process of refining their trading plan, keeping detailed journals, and keeping
up with consistent and honest review will ensure continued development as a trader. Here is where a
trader should analyze all of their trading data meticulously such as average winner versus average
loser, average win duration, risk/reward ratio, etc. By understanding this data, traders can further
refine their strategy to get to the next level.

Expert

Who is an expert?
This is ultimately where all traders want to be. Experts never stop working and when it comes to their
self-knowledge, humility rules. I have known two expert traders and they would never call themselves
experts. Most who think they are experts are actually just very competent. At the end of the day, even
the experts started out as novices and advanced beginners. They were just like anyone new to
trading at one point in their career, but self-knowledge and dedication trumped all.

If you think you’re an expert, you’re not.

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Competent Traders & Experts Use SMART Goals to Improve
Their Chances of Success
Another common thread between competent traders and experts is their ability to stay consistent in
their goal setting. To become a better trader, you have to set SMART goals. What does that mean?
Let’s use the example goal of limiting risk with every trade.

Sustainable
Limiting risk with every trade is sustainable by the trader only taking trades that fit into his/her
personal risk plan. If you limit your risk, your account will be very sustainable. As we know,
preservation of capital is paramount to profits.

Measurable
How is limiting risk with every trade measured? Dollars and cents. Also the percentage of your Daily
Loss Limit you are losing on a given day. If your Daily Loss Limit is $1,000, and each day you are
losing 75-100% of that, there is room for improvement.

Attainable
Limiting risk with every trade can be attained by following your rules and processes that you laid out
ahead of time in your trading plan. Start with an achievable amount that you would like to limit; don’t
expect to limit your losses to $0 right out of the gate.

Relevant
Risk is the most relevant aspect of trading! Risk is the only thing that you can control. You cannot
control your profits.

Timebound
If you are not able to control your risk, you will not be able to maintain an account for very long. This
can be monitored and assessed on a weekly or monthly basis. Your risk should be improving as
evidenced by the data you should be keeping in your journal.

To set SMART goals and reach them more consistently, understand what kind of trader you are and
be aware of the areas in which you need to improve. Approaching your development as a trader with
this framework will ensure that your goals keep you motivated and along the path to becoming an
expert, instead of setting yourself up for disappointment and failure.

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How has TopstepTrader Made a Difference in the Lives of
Our Traders?
Our mission is to change the way people approach the financial markets. We have developed a
platform that - without risking trading capital - allows anyone interested in the market to learn, gain
market experience, and earn an opportunity to trade, making real money from anywhere in the world.

TopstepTrader truly is a home to all types of traders, from novice to expert. We’re a safe place for
beginners and a launchpad to the next level for intermediate and experienced traders. The Combine
has changed the lives of not just the hundreds of traders we’ve funded, but also the members of our
community.

Here’s how TopstepTrader is making it happen:

Community
Through our interactive chat rooms, traders can communicate real-time feedback with our like-
minded traders. Rooms are broken down by product such as equities, energies, etc. In each room,
many trade ideas, strategies, and important levels are discussed amongst traders in order to better
improve trade execution. Aside from the trading benefit, many long lasting friendships have been
formed in these rooms.

Education
Educating traders and giving them the opportunity to connect with mentors is core to what we do.
We connect our traders with some of the industry’s best trading experts. Through our Squawk Radio,
we feature trader interviews, market commentary, levels and value areas, guest educators, free
trading classes, psychology sessions with a renowned trading psychologist, and much more.

A defined trading plan

Working with our traders to develop a defined trading plan breaks down how trades and risk will be
evaluated. We provide an Trade Plan template and comprehensive examples to guide you. These
plans include rules for execution and trade management. Combined with discipline in your process
and subdued emotions, they will lead to successful trading.

Consistent risk
Every trade should have a known risk that is directly related to market state. TopstepTrader’s loss
limits enforce consistency and risk taken, while keeping the trader in the market and trading. Our
Combine account parameters help traders define and refine their risk and money management.

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Reasonable targets
Markets don’t always provide equal opportunities. Some trades offer big opportunities with big risk,
while others offer smaller opportunities for smaller risk. TopstepTrader gives traders an accountable
place to learn to define market states and gauge opportunities.

Trading less / making more

Most retail traders over-trade because it’s fun and they are seduced by the simplicity of buying and
selling. TopstepTrader helps develop trading experience and knowledge (both self and market) and
helps traders discover that one “right opportunity” is worth a whole lot of maybes.

Non-monetary goals
We’ve helped many traders develop a strategy and trade that strategy. Throughout the process of
becoming a funded trader, many traders have broken down their psychological barriers and learned
more about themselves. It’s the process implemented successfully that is the success; money is
simply a byproduct of successful trading.

Journals
Keeping a trading journal, as I’ve mentioned throughout this e-book, is essential to developing as a
trader. We provide a journal to use on our platform that enables one to develop all of the 9
characteristics of a successful trader: Humility, Honesty, Responsibility, Coachability, Tenacity,
Flexibility, Calm, Reflectivity, and Psychology. Having the ability to journal your processes, learnings,
and progress allows you to improve over time and develop self-knowledge alongside your market
knowledge.


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What’s the next step to becoming a funded trader?

Start trading today

As I mentioned in the introduction, TopstepTrader is the only firm of its kind where traders can
showcase their skills and earn a funded trading account, all without risking any of their own capital.

We’re helping new traders turn their dreams into a reality everyday.

I really appreciate you reading our material, and as a thank you, I’d like to invite you to sign up for a
free 14-day trial to practice your skills.

Take a look at PinayTrader. She started trading less than 3 months ago so that she could spend more
time at home. Now we’re proud to call her one of our newest funded traders. She began with a 

14-day free trial and demonstrated her ability to trade early on before starting, and then passing, a
Combine.

Her entire trading experience has been solely through TopstepTrader - and we couldn’t be happier. It
took PinayTrader less than 3 months to go from total novice to funded trader, and it all started with
our free 14-day trial.

So, what are you waiting for? We’re looking forward to announcing you as our Funded Trader!

Start My Free Trial Now!

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