Matthew Bergin

My name is Matt Bergin, most people know me as Berg Trades. I’m 22 years old, originally from the UK, and I currently spend most of my time in Thailand.

I first got into trading purely to make money. I didn’t care whether it was dropshipping, Amazon FBA, or trading. I had failed at multiple ventures before, and I told myself trading was my last shot — and I wouldn’t quit until it worked. It worked.

I now have nearly four years of trading experience. My main focus is forex, trading both prop firms and live capital.

I follow a philosophy called mechanical trading. This means I don’t change my strategy — I execute the same confluences every single day, regardless of my personal opinions or intuition. I rely on backtested data for confidence, not a “feeling.”

Specifically, I trade the Asia sweep and London sweep. This is where I found success. In my first year, I was constantly trying to “refine” my strategy while trading discretionarily, which led to confusion and inconsistency.

The mental clarity that comes with mechanical trading is unmatched, and it’s been a key driver of my profitability.

I honestly lost count. But I do know I spent around £10,000 on accounts before passing a single one. That said, the first two accounts I passed paid back all of my previous losses.

One of my biggest challenges was being emotionally affected by every outcome. If price reversed just before take profit and hit stop loss, or if I missed an entry due to hesitation, it would affect me mentally every single day.

The turning point was unlearning the idea that you can be “right” or “wrong” in the markets. Trading is probability. There are countless variables influencing price, and trying to control or predict all of them is unrealistic.

Now, I focus on executing my simple mechanical system rather than trying to outthink the market.

I use fixed risk. I risk higher on evaluation accounts and lower on live accounts. I’ve tried dynamic risk in the past, but it often led to a few losses wiping out months of progress.

Fixed risk allows my returns to compound more consistently, and it’s been key to maintaining stability in my results.

Getting a mentor. In my first year, I had no real understanding of trading — risk management, win rate vs reward, journaling, or data collection. Having someone experienced who had already achieved what I wanted helped guide me and gave me clarity on what actually works. That changed everything.

A combination of Mechanical strategy, Fixed risk, Backtesting, Journaling, A strong transparent mentor

Submitting to probabilities. I don’t focus on individual wins or losses. For me, success is following my plan, not the outcome of a single trade. I also avoid setting time-based goals, as they often lead to unnecessary pressure and poor decisions. You can’t force profitability — it comes from consistency.

Since late November.

Make sure your strategy is actually profitable — collect data. Use fixed risk, submit to probabilities, and focus on execution. I’d also recommend reading Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas to better understand how to accept risk, especially when trading prop firm challenges.