Why speed fails
An evaluation rewards the trader who doesn’t break rules, not the one who goes fastest. The profit target is usually dozens of R away. Trying to cover it in a few days means more size, more trades and wider stops: exactly what triggers the daily loss limit and the max loss.
Your four numbers
- Target in R = profit target ÷ your 1R. At $50 of risk per trade, a $3,000 target is 60R: many good sessions, not one great one.
- Daily stop = 2R at your current size, plus slippage. It must stay well below the firm’s daily loss limit.
- Daily cap = consistency % × profit target, when your evaluation has a consistency rule. Hit it, and stop for the day: one oversized day can hold up the pass. The consistency calculator does it for you.
- Bad days you can absorb = distance to the max loss ÷ daily stop. Under 5, your size is too big for the account.
The table above does the math for every account type at 50K, with 1R = $50 and a daily stop of $100. Use your own numbers: with a trailing drawdown, open profits that come back also count (see the drawdown rules).
Before your first session
- Read the official rules: profit target, daily loss limit, max loss and how it trails, consistency, minimum days, time limit, news, contract limits.
- Write your four numbers down.
- Set your monthly spending budget, evaluations and resets included.
- Decide your size: 1 micro to start, and the size ladder to grow.
During the evaluation
- The same setup, window and routine as in practice. Check the day’s economic releases and the market hours before the session.
- 3 trades at most, done for the day after 2 losses or −2R.
- Up +2R on the day? A setups only, or stop.
- Track your progress in R, not in dollars.
- Before and after each session, note your distance to the daily limit and to the max loss.
Close to passing
Near the target, the risk is to rush the last dollars. Trade as if nothing changed: A setups only, daily cap respected. After your best day, the next session is a normal one, at the same size.
If it doesn’t pass
Your plan stays the same. First, check in your journal whether you followed your rules. Then wait 3 days before buying another evaluation, inside your monthly budget. A failed evaluation with your rules respected is information; one with your rules broken is a process to fix first.
Part of the free 90-day gameplan for new prop firm traders. Educational content, not financial advice. Trading futures involves a high risk of loss and is not suitable for everyone. The Sweep Setup and the size ladder are learning tools, not recommendations or proven strategies. Buying an evaluation is your own decision. Always check your prop firm’s official rules for your account.