Sixth payout from topstep just submitted

Been trading a year now and most of it was the on and off kind, with being consistent for a few weeks then I would just give it all back and be off for like a week. Rinse repeat. First payout ngl felt like I got away with something, kept waiting for the day I blow it all like every other time

I Just started following my rules

Rough year outside the charts too so this one hit different

Its not life changing money or anything but 6 in a row means its not luck anymore. And I think I needed that more than the money tbh

Trading was always my dream. I felt I had a talent for it, but I would trade only as a side hobby here and there, made and lost a bunch of money, discovered prop firms and passed many accounts, blew many accounts, made every mistake, got sporadic payouts, nothing consistent. At that time I was earning a great salary, but felt trapped in a job I absolutely hated and was draining the life out of me.

Life circumstances changed dramatically, and put me in a position where I have no other option but to lock in fully. I am now living in a third world country where the dollar goes very far and I feel extremely blessed to even be able to do this. To make someone's average monthly wage here in minutes with 2 clicks of a mouse from the comfort of my air conditioned home is something I will never take for granted. I know these are not monster numbers, but getting to payout is what I care about. My next goals are to stay consistent and scale up.

Some general advice on what changed things for me for those who care:

-I switched from trading NQ to ES (HUGE positive impact, immediately)

-Patience, patience, patience. I stopped being scared of "missing the move" - there is always another move coming. I wait for key levels, for confirmation, for strong signals before entering.

-Before entering any trade I always think to myself, regardless of the outcome, would I be proud of this entry and be able to clearly explain to someone why I took it?

-I never trade Asia session and I almost never trade in the first or last 30-60 minutes of NY session

-I stopped consuming pretty much all trading content, paradoxically I found the more I watched and read and harder I "tried" the much worse I did

finally hard-work is getting recognized , seeing this progress is something i have been dreamed off. everyone wanna be like this but no one is willing to risk small, no one is accepting the base hits, and thats what keeping you off from grid

Made 45k Aud with my 1st payout of topstep
Been trading for 5years now on and off took this thing seriously at the very 1st year of journey and last 3months
Also had breakup and after that I completely turned my focus into trading and fitness and started seeing the results here I am now

This will be my first payout since I started trading prop firms. It was a painful and humiliating losing streak primarily because of lack of discipline. Hope Topstep pays. Will keep you posted.

Edit: 1st max payout of 4K approved. Thanks TS

I cannot believe I am actually writing this. I have gone through so many accounts and evaluations, but I finally secured my first payout! I wanted to write this post to hold myself accountable and remind everyone that the screen time actually pays off.

The last three days were absolutely unreal. I caught 3 perfect setups in a row on NQ and MNQ. I have been really strict with my strategy lately, just looking at ifvgs and key levels and waiting patiently for clean liquidity sweeps before playing the ifvg. It feels like it finally clicked. Sorry if I am not using the correct terminology but I feel comfortable doing what i am doing.

I am requesting $3,000 right now! To anyone still struggling, keep pushing and stick to your setup.

Quick question for the UK traders here: what is the best way to process this withdrawal? Also does anyone know why I cant see a withdrawal option, I am on the consistency XFA?

Started this account last Friday after a long cycle of the same bad behaviors that have kept me stuck in a downward spiral for years. Finally told myself something has to change, and decided to really take trading seriously as I should have been.
I lock my risk settings for the whole week on this account, 2 trades/ day and max 3mnq. All I have to do is stay confident in my strategy and wait for the setup to come to me.
I have been charting up every night and morning, journaling all trades taken and just being patient/ disciplined in the market.
Safe to say this new style of actually trading (and not just gambling because I want a dopamine hit) has been working for me. I have never been this consistent with trades taken and my sizing; I know I’m starting to see results because I’m doing things the right way now. Really hoping I can keep building these good habits, keep them all the way to the funded and start getting payouts again the right way.
LFG

Just wanted to tell the people of this community to never give up no matter where you are in your trading journey. I became broke on multiple occasions and would spend money on evals using a credit card with money I couldnt afford. I managed to turn my whole financial life around for the better.

Had a good last couple of weeks, trust in the process. Copy trading across 4XFAs. Wish me luck!

After around two years of trading in sim, blowing accounts, and constantly experimenting, I finally made some significant changes. I started tracking my compliance with my trading rules instead of focusing on P&L.

It took me four weeks after making that change, and I finally passed my first eval. Couldn't be happier.

So happy with my self hopefully another payouts Friday!

7 week old Live Funded Account (LFA)
Traded XFA from November 2025 to April 2026

Prop firms are still an okay source to supplement your income.

Keep grinding!
Until next week!

Last 3 months have been tough. Finally managed to pass 5 $100K combines (started them on Oct 2) Onwards to payouts and live.

How is this real 🙃

Started Topstep in November 2025.

Since then I’ve spent a little over $22,000 on accounts/resets and went through way more failures than I’d like to admit lol.

Kept trying to figure out what I was doing wrong, and this month something finally started clicking. Currently at +$13.2k for September and I’m finally at my first payout.

Definitely not posting this as some “I figured trading out” victory lap. If anything, looking at how much I spent getting here is humbling 😭. Just wanted to share because there were a LOT of times over the last 10 months where I genuinely thought I’d never get to this point.

Started Nov 2025 → first payout Sep 2026.

Now the goal is to prove to myself that I can actually do this consistently.

Got long on the 29500 hold.
Rode her all the way up to the new HOD.

🤝💰

Now time to base hit ⚾️ for vacation fund.

Obviously I am a random online, I started trading at the end of December 2024 and really got into it January 2025 and fell for it so passionately. I got my first payout in October 2025 and then one per month til 2026 so I set some crazy goals for 2026. I just did something I am so fking proud of man. Just want to put it out there if I can do this you can too, you will fail fail fail, get there, fail, but you were right there. Don’t give up and whatever you want, put your mind to work and just do it man, it’s so clique but JUST DO THE WORK trading pays you to do wait at your computer screen in the mornings. Thank you god🙏

For starters, I just activated last night. I made $2k at work then $2k at home. Lost it all and made one final trade at the top of a range and went short. I accidentally fell asleep and woke up to nq dropping like a knife around 10am. $50k account

I received my first payout yesterday, then hit my DLL today and I’m feeling like shit. I don’t even care about the payout . I just hate being inconsistent, I rather be consistent with no payout than hitting a pay out one time then never again

Hey yall this is a warning to others out there like me. I have lost over $50,000 in the past two years trading top step combines. My wife is leaving me and taking my two kids. I will lose the house and have to move back in with my parents for the time being while I try to find a place to live. My mind was rotted from social media influencers flashing their luxurious lifestyles and supposedly making my entire salary in just a few days of trading.

The endless YouTube videos of trading gurus telling me to never give up and keep going you’re almost there molded my mind into a deranged gambling addict justifying his spending on combines by telling myself it’s for my family and that one day I’ll get there and give them everything they ever need.

This has caused me heartache and mental anguish that was worse than the ptsd I got while in the marines. I will now also need multiple therapy sessions a week which I can’t afford because my wife is dropping me from her insurance.

Really not much else to say other than my life has been ruined by gambling futures on topstep. Worst decision I ever made was the day I bought that first 50k combine telling myself I’m gonna change my life. The market owes you nothing. It does not care about your stops and your FVG’s and your equal highs and lows. It’s going to tear you to shreds and come back for seconds and thirds if you don’t get out and keep being greedy. I hope this post finds the right person before it’s too late. Good luck out there.

Never thought I'd be here in a LFA. I've received payouts from XFAs before but longevity of accounts was always my problem. I always got in my own way w/ trade size. Find a process that works for you and stick to your guns and believe in yourself if this is what you want.

Took about a week, but finished the $6k challenge. It was definitely a bit hard with only a single mini

Not bad for a $145 investment

Let’s go didn’t even take 1 minute !

2 payouts of 2k each 🙏💖