I’ve been trading full-time in Indian markets for a little over **8 years**, and it’s been my primary source of income. Wanted to share some practical learnings that might help others who are actively trading or planning to go full-time.
A few things that consistently worked for me:
* Aiming for **moderate, repeatable returns (around 20–25% annually)** rather than chasing big wins
* Using **mutual fund pledging** to stay invested long-term while trading with discipline
* Giving more importance to **risk management and drawdowns** than to individual trades
* Keeping strategies simple and boring — complexity usually hurt performance
Some mistakes I made early on:
* Overtrading during volatile phases
* Increasing position size after a good run
* Ignoring psychology and fatigue
Curious to hear from others here:
* How do you balance active trading with long-term investing?
* Anyone using MF pledging for trading? What pros/cons have you seen?
* For full-time traders here, what helped you stay consistent over the years?
Looking forward to the discussion.