First of all, how much satisfactory income I made from trading in the 5+ years since I posted this is of no consequence to me personally. What matters to me is that by suspending a focus on making money to research and develop ways to improve the system in successive stages, I've reached the point where I can now realize a return on investment anywhere from 35% to 100% per week. In so doing, whatever amount of money I might have made during the past five years will be dwarfed by the amount of money I make in the next five years.
As for acting like $100 or $1000 in a real money account is worthwhile, as a devout Christian, I have learned that I should "not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin..." I have also read how the Messiah (God) was able to feed 5000 people from five small loaves of bread and two small fish, so that who knows what He will do with these "worthless" amounts. To quote blueblessings.com, "We see that it is God's very nature to take what you have and to multiply it such that it not only meets your needs, but so that there is a surplus too." And finally, I have learned from the likes of Moses, Abraham and Joseph to be patient, and God will "exalt you in due time." Consequently, the fact that this has taken me longer than I originally envisioned doesn't bother me.
Regarding grandiose percentage forecasts being meaningless in trading, the way I see it, that is your opinion, and you have the perfect right to express it. As an opinion, I will not argue it with you. I will simply state that for me, they are a means of assessing whether it might be worth my while to continue the path I'm on, and I have concluded that it is. Since I have not modified the components of my system in months (but have merely learned to better apply the mechanics of interpreting its elements) I trust that where I stand at the end of this little "exercise" four months from now will be a testament as to whether any of this has credence, or was all just a meaningless waste of time.