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Why I Keep a Trading Journal
I do not want every trade to disappear into the rear-view mirror the moment I close it. I want to learn from it. That is why I keep a trading journal.
Before I enter, I record what I am trying to do: the setup, entry, target, stop, thesis and risk/reward. That matters because it captures what I believed before I knew the outcome.
Afterward I record what actually happened. Where did I really enter and exit? Did I follow the strategy? Did I chase? Move the stop? Sell too early? Hang on too long? What did the stock do, and what did I do?
This helps me separate process from outcome. A profitable trade is not automatically a good trade. I can break every rule, get lucky and still make money. I can also execute a reasonable setup with discipline and lose. Markets do not owe me a win because I followed my process.
Over time, the journal starts showing me patterns in my own behaviour. Maybe I am better at breakouts than swings. Maybe my stops are consistently too tight. Maybe I keep giving back gains because I am reluctant to sell. Without records those are impressions. With records I can study them.
Writing the trade down also slows me down just enough to make me articulate what I am doing. That is very different from seeing something move, feeling FOMO and throwing money at it.
The goal is not to become somebody who never makes a mistake. It is to stop making the same mistake without learning anything from it.
Plan it. Trade it. Review it. Improve it. That is really the system.
Read How I Think About Trading and Plan the Trade Before You Enter It. I also built a Day Trading Journal Template for Notion around the same principle.
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This article is part of my Trading & Markets authority series. Continue with Capital Markets hub, You Can Always Buy It Back: One of the Best Trading Lessons I Learned, Why Buying Is Easy and Selling Is Hard and Getting Shaken Out Is Better Than Getting Blown Out: How I Think About Stop Losses.
This article reflects my personal trading approach and is for educational purposes only. It is not financial or investment advice. Trading involves risk.
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