It’s bittersweet. I even cried. This site has been a part of my life- in one form or another- for many, many years. I made friends, enemies, and everything in between. I personally want to thank the owners - whomever they are - for providing a space for people of all backgrounds to come and talk about one of my greatest passions in life, trading.
Over the years:
I’ve lost a lot of money on some trades.
I’ve made a lot of money on some trades.
When I reflect though, I learned it’s not about the money.
Trading revealed to me the innermost darkest, deepest corners of my mind.
I’ve learned more about myself through trading than almost any other endeavor in life (aside from martial arts).
I’ll keep it short and sweet as I saddle up to ride off into the sunset.
I will continue trading and doing my own thing.
I will not be checking any replies to this post.
As a matter of fact, I won’t be seeking out any external content going-forward, no matter what the source is.
The catalyst for today’s decision to leave started a few weeks ago when I was updating a post I made, while my daughter was waiting for me to read her a bedtime story.
Something sparked in me and I can’t ignore it.
Our days are numbered and our time within this existence is finite.
My focus and energy had been completely consumed by trading and all the associated peripherals.
Life is what happens when you’re working so hard toward a goal. You get to that goal, and realize you missed the point of the entire journey to begin with.
Live in the moment and cherish your relationships because all good things come to an end, yet the world will continue spinning and our species will continue pressing forward without you. Some may think that’s sad. I think it’s a great way to motivate you to make sure your priorities are in-check and those that love you know that you love them too.
Good luck out there everyone.
Signing off.
“Jake”
Be kind to others.
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Thanks for your time for this forum, take care 
Your post hit a nerve. Especially since just recently I answered a thread of what I would do when I hit my trading goal. Maybe that’s not all there is to life so I’ll be reviewing my goals. Trading is so engrossing and takes up so much time that we dont even know how much we miss. And what we once missed, we forget.
I’ve come across many of your posts and threads during my time here and would like to thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience with us. You guys moulded babypips into what it is and I’m grateful. It’s a bittersweet moment as I read your goodbye because it reminded me at the end of the day we are all hidden strangers. You will quietly go off into the world to life your life and I will remember there was once a guy called @FOREXunlimited on babypips whose posts I used to read. Which is sad but it is what it is.
Best of luck in your personal journey. I hope you come back one day.
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Hi Jake,
You will not be reading this, but it is for the other forum members. It is often said that you will reap what you sow, or if you give charitably, it will be returned three fold - Eid Mubarak to all for yesterday.
It has certainly been my experience in life that I have learned more about a subject by freely writing about it to an audience than I ever did reading without participation. I, too, have gained much from your past posts so I thank you in your absence for the gift you have brought to other forum members.
To new members reading this thread, do try to keep your trading life in perspective. The vast majority of members will not be full time traders. I can’t say that trading has consumed my attentions 24 x 7 but it has been the case in my primary career - that of working as an IT contractor, in not being satisfied unless I feel I am in the top decile of IT contractors. It’s largely a competition against yourself, not against others. And I truly believe this leads to accomplishment of goals, no matter how outlandish they may seem to be at the outset.
Jake has changed his priorities to his family. I was very fortunate to have been able to work from home extensively, and flexibly, and some of my most memorable times have been:
Sitting my 3 year old son on my lap and letting his steer the car wheel from home to the office 2km down one straight street (NOT in the UK!!)
Being able to drive my sons to school between the ages of 3 and 10, playing outrageously loud rock music on the journey and allowing “swear words” out of earshot of others.
Driving both sons to their first year at Uni and helping them unpack the car.
We all need stories like Jake’s to motivate us to have the necessary discipline to split ourselves up into little pieces for fulfilment of our goals and dreams.
Time is one thing we don’t get more of. Cherish it. All the best for the future.
100% balanced life style is the most important thing if trading is taking over then you need to reflect and adjust. all the best
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I think that whatever your goal is there is a price to pay. Perhaps you got the goal, then decided it wasn’t worth the sacrifice. If that’s the case, perhaps you underappreciate your goal, or your standards are low and you settled for low hanging fruit.
I don’t know you, but I’m gonna guess it’s the former, not the latter.
If you accomplished something that required a lifetime to accomplish, you should be proud. Hopefully, those around you will value your sacrifice once they start to benefit from it.
These are our choices, and we must live with them. We’re doing the best we can at any given moment. You can’t judge your past self by your current values.
I agree to an extent. But you gotta give up something. Some aspect must be sacrificed if you are trying to made a big change. There are only 24 hours in a day. If you don’t wanna give up some family time, then you’ll be sleeping less.
You never get something for nothing. No struggle, no progress. If you exert little effort and get some results, you’re short changing yourself and are settling for low hanging fruit. You can do better than or settle. It’s a choice.