On Payout approval days, one trader sets his alarm for 6:00 AM. After reverently checking his inbox, his immediate thought was: “Now I have the fuel to power through another week.”
This is the story of Quokka Park, a trader aiming to share small moments of joy, just like the world’s happiest animal, the quokka. But this challenge wasn't easy from the start. On his very first trading day, he took a hit exceeding $1,000. For most, that's where the mental game collapses.
Instead, Quokka Park calmly recovered every dollar of that loss over the next ten days and secured his Payout. Here is his interview.

Q. Hello! Could you introduce yourself and your handle to our readers?

A. Hello! I'm Quokka Park, a trader looking to share steady, small wins in this ruthless market alongside the quokka, the happiest animal on earth. I started futures trading in 2021, traded various markets including crypto futures, and eventually discovered prop trading. Now, I focus exclusively on prop trading.

Q. When and how did you confirm your Payout approval? What was your first thought?

A. I set an alarm for 6:00 AM, waited patiently, and checked the email notification. Seeing it, I thought, 'This gives me the strength to push through another week—my life truly got a LifeUp.'

Q. Looking at your performance review, you started off with a loss of over $1,000 on day one. Yet, you clawed it all back over ten days and got your Payout. How did you recover?

A. Every emotional, revenge trade starts with a loss and the urge to get back to breakeven. In my experience, you can trade well for a hundred days, but one slip-up can wipe it all out. Emotional discipline alone cannot prevent human error; you need hard, automated guardrails.
That's why I prefer the Basic plan. It enforces a systematic Daily Loss Limit. Knowing that risk limit is in place lets me execute with confidence. Even after taking that heavy hit on day one, I treated each following session as a fresh start and worked my way back step by step.

Q. Looking at your directional bias, most of your profits came from short positions. Why are you so effective on the short side?

A. Markets inherently lean bullish over time, so longs technically have an edge. But I have a contrarian streak; I dislike following the crowd. That naturally drew me to the short side, and that's where the bulk of my P&L comes from.
Most retail traders blow up trying to short strong upward momentum. I only short when the chart structure is already broken—delivering the final blow to an exhausted trend.

Q. You traded exclusively Micro contracts during this challenge. What was the rationale?

A. Futures trading drains immense mental capital even with full focus. Every instrument has its own rhythm and reacts to different catalysts, so I prefer zeroing in on a single market. For me, MNQ (Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100) is the gold standard.

Q. How do you close out green days versus red days?

A. On green days, I indulge in a little daydreaming and configure my dream car on the Porsche website. On red days, I go outside for a long walk while listening to Buddhist teachings.

Q. How do you manage your Payouts?

A. Prop traders know the feeling: profits often just pass through your account briefly. But whenever there's extra cash, I steadily accumulate domestic blue-chip equities. After the chaotic pace of futures markets, watching my long-term equity portfolio grow brings true mental peace.

Q. How did you discover LifeUp? What are its pros and cons?

A. I came across prop trading through videos of international traders. Joining overseas prop firms felt inconvenient, but LifeUp being a Korean firm made it an easy choice to jump in. The customer support has been exceptional.
One drawback is the lack of a leaderboard. Traders thrive on benchmarking themselves against top performers to stay motivated and sharpen their edge.

Q. What is your single piece of advice for someone new to prop trading?

A. Sign up for LifeUp.

Q. What's your next step after this Payout, and what is your ultimate goal in trading?

A. Purchasing another LifeUp account is my first priority. Rather than chasing massive windfalls, my goal is to remain a consistent, long-term 'pension trader' pulling in a steady 2,000,000 KRW every month.

Designing Porsches on winning days and finding calm through Buddhist teachings on losing days—we wish Quokka Park sustained success and happiness in the markets, just like his namesake.