3. Risk management – The reason why people blow their futures account in less than a year is that they have poor risk management. Always remember that it is not about how much money you make, but it is about how much money you don’t lose. Risk management helps us trader's accounts from losing all of our money. Through risk management, we can know if the trade is worth it or not.
This is one aspect of trading that can't be over emphasized because of its importance. No matter how one might be in trading, without a proper risk management technique, such trader wouldn't definitely stay long in the market.
Just as OP stated that it's not about how much profit a trader makes but how much money we don't lose really touch a great spot in me and if I'm to explain, it simply means that, no matter how much money or profit you make, never run out of your trading capital.
Another area I want to contribute is the fact that, demo accounts shouldn't be related to a real money account.
This is because in my few months of trading, there is one thing I've noticed which is the fact that most newbie traders after practicing with a demo account for some time and feel they're good, then to jump into the market and when they start making loss in a row, start thinking their broker is bias and frustration starts creeping in.
So I will always advice people to take a better lesson on trading while making practice with demo accounts.