How to pass an FTMO-style prop firm challenge

Every evaluation has the same skeleton: a profit target you must reach, and a maximum drawdown you must never breach. The drawdown rule is the real exam. You can hit the target with almost any half-decent edge given enough time — what knocks people out is touching the loss limit before they get there.

Step one: size against the drawdown, not the target

Most failed challenges are sized backwards. The trader picks a position size that makes the profit target feel achievable quickly, then discovers that a normal losing streak at that size breaches the limit. The correct order is the reverse: start from the maximum drawdown, decide how many consecutive losses you must survive, and let that dictate size. The target takes care of itself once you survive.

Step two: fix the rules before you enter

Entry, stop, target, and exit should be defined before the trade exists. The moment any of those four becomes negotiable mid-trade, the edge starts leaking. This is precisely where discretion fails under pressure — and the single biggest reason most prop traders fail.

Step three: know your blow rate before you start

If you cannot state the probability that your approach breaches the account, you are flying blind. A measured blow rate under the firm's rules is the difference between a plan and a hope. Run it through Monte Carlo so you are sizing for the bad tail, not the lucky one.

Step four: treat the funded account like the challenge

Passing is not the finish line. The same drawdown discipline that gets you through the evaluation is what keeps the funded account alive long enough to collect payouts. Nothing about your sizing should change the day you pass.