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TRADING JOURNAL CHECKLIST: 10 THINGS EVERY ENTRY NEEDS
A trading journal only works if you're tracking the right stuff. Too little and you won't have enough data. Too much and you'll never fill it out.
Here's the checklist. Ten items. Takes five minutes per trade. Gives you everything you need to find your edge and fix your leaks.
The Big Picture (Track Once)
1. Your trading goals. Write down why you're doing this. What's the income target? What lifestyle are you building toward? Review this monthly. It keeps you grounded when individual trades feel too important.
2. Your market outlook. Before each session, write one or two sentences about where you think the market is heading. This creates a record of your thinking that you can check against reality later.
3. Your research notes. What news, events, or analysis informed your view today? Document it. When a trade wins or loses, you'll know whether your research process is actually helping.
4. Mistakes and missed opportunities. Keep a running list. "Moved my stop." "Didn't take the setup because I was distracted." "Perfect entry I saw but didn't pull the trigger." This is where the real learning happens.
5. Performance stats. Track your win rate, average win, average loss, and profit factor over time. Update weekly. You need to see trends, not just individual trades.
For Every Trade (Track Each One)
6. The setup zone. Where did you identify the trade? Mark the price range you were watching and why. Screenshot it if possible. This tells you whether you're finding good areas or forcing entries.
7. Your entry trigger. What specifically made you click the button? A candle close? A break of a level? A pullback to a zone? Be precise. "It looked good" isn't a trigger.
8. Position size and risk. How many lots or contracts? What percentage of your account? What's your dollar risk? This needs to be documented before every trade, no exceptions.
9. Your management rules. Before you enter, write down: where's your stop, where's your target, will you take partials, under what conditions would you exit early? Decide this before, not during.
10. The post-trade review. After it closes, answer three questions: Did I follow my rules? Why did this trade win or lose? What would I do differently?
The Review That Matters
Filling out the journal is half the job. The other half is actually using it.
Every week, spend thirty minutes reading back through your entries. Look for patterns. Are you winning more on certain setups? Losing money at certain times? Breaking rules in specific situations?
Every month, calculate your overall stats. Compare them to the previous month. Are you improving or backsliding? The numbers tell you things you can't feel in the moment.
Most traders who journal don't review. They collect data and never use it. Don't be that trader. The review is where the journal actually pays off.
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