This post was contributed by a guest author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Richard or MovetheMarkets.com

I have decided to quit trading.

I have given this my best shot, but as Richard said earlier, “Trading is simple. YOU are complicated”. And I am indeed complicated.

I have gone from being up 25% in my prop account after two months to now down -80% after 6 months. There have been a variety of circumstances and mistakes, but I am responsible for my trading results. Period. I blame no one but myself. This is a hole I cannot trade my way out of. I have instructed my prop firm to trade the remains of my account for me. Better that they make 50% on my tiny amount of money than letting me lose it all. There’s something to be said for trying again and again when you fail, but there’s also something to be said for knowing when to pack it in.

Many have tried to help me over the years, and I am grateful. There has been more than enough good advice and help given to me to allow any less complicated person to be successful. Unfortunately, I was unwilling or unable to really follow it.

I realize that I have been pursuing my daytrading “dream” with all manner of emotional baggage, and for the wrong reasons. This has led me to disaster. I wanted an escape from my day job, and I wanted trading success to bail me out of these and other problems in my life. These feelings have pushed me to forced desperation trading so that I could escape from them. Instead of a bottle or a needle, I turned to charts and a mouse. An expensive “cure” to say the least.

So is daytrading impossible? Far from it! There are very many who are doing it right and making a good living from it. I am just not one of them. Maybe the answer for me would be automated system trading where emotion and discretion is left completely out of the equation. That’s one thing I have to consider. I was applying for a new job in the finance realm, which would force me to quit watching the markets and trading during the day, but it’s looking like that is not going to pan out as they have offered it to someone else. I may get a shot as a second choice should they turn it down, but I don’t think it’s likely. Either way, I’ve hit my personal stop loss point as a trader and I’m pulling the plug.

I don’t exactly know where I go from here. My every waking moment has been trading, markets and everything in between for the last few years. Podcasts, websites, books, talk-radio… Suddenly, my world seems to have gone silent. I’m a very driven person, and I don’t take much down time. Every spare second was spent doing something related to my goals. Now my driving purpose has faded away, and my life seems empty. That purpose and clear direction is destroyed. I plan on focusing now on those close to me who need that energy and attention that I’ve been spending elsewhere. Maybe this is the answer that I’ve been seeking all along, trying to find it in a few R’s when it was right in the walls of my own home.

I feel like I don’t have anything to contribute here anymore, so I don’t see myself posting much. This is a site for professional and developing traders, not washed-out ones. Should that change, I’ll be back. But if not, I wanted to thank everyone out there again for help and support over the last couple of years. I wish you success in trading and in your life.

This post was contributed by a guest author, and does not necessarily reflect the views of Richard or MovetheMarkets.com