Trading Journal: the toolthat makes you better.
A trading journal is the only tool that shows you your own mistakes. Most traders keep one for a week and stop, because they write too much and never use it.
Ours is built around 5 lines per trade and 1 question: did you follow the plan?
What to write
The market, the plan, whether you followed it, the result and 1 short note. That is enough. More text means you stop after a week.
How to use it
Once a week, filter for the trades where you did not follow the plan. That is your mistake list. The weekly review routine turns it into 1 rule for next week.
Use it in real trading
The tool informs the decision, it never makes it. Here is how it plays out on real trading days.
USDJPY followed the plan and lost 0.6R. The journal marks it as a good trade. You do not change the plan.
Gold made money but you entered early. The journal marks it as a mistake, because next time it will not work.
Mistakes to avoid
- Judging trades by the result.
- Writing essays instead of 5 lines.
- Never reading it back.
What makes it different
The journal sits next to the context of the day, so you can check what you knew when you took the trade.
Questions
Do I need to journal every trade?
Yes. The trades you skip are usually the ones you should learn from.
How long does it take?
About 1 minute per trade.
What is R?
Your risk on the trade. +2R means you made twice what you risked.