Ideal trading conditions...... 1. You can't "need" the profits for your income. There's nothing like the pressure of needing cash to screw up a trade. 2. You shouldn't be trading with money you "need". Your risk tolerance on trades will be all screwed up. If you're trying to trade under either of these conditions, you'll never be a consistently good trader. Remove the pressure of needing cash and only trade with money you can afford to lose, and you should do well! :-)