I have been trading for about 4 years now, and I have seen massive value in keeping a trading journal in order to become successful!
Having somewhere to write down your goals, visions, trading plans, journal entries and takeaways as well as keeping a weekly log to write down results and any other notes.
I have spent the last few weeks designing and deveoloping a trading journal especially for Forex traders! I would love some feedback!
Great thread.
I just peeked at the journal. Looks serious!! Good job!
For me, it’s not just journaling, but what you do with that information that is a game changer.
I’ve had a lot of losses and I feel frustrated. But when I took a deeper look into my losses, I see patterns in my behaviour and my frustration starts to go away.
Basically, I review my entries and losses, and more importantly, what happened with that pair after I exited. (Often price goes in my direction right after I bail.) I like to re-live the trade. I go back to the chart, look at my entry point (and reason for entry), then look at the trend until my exit point. At the moment of review I can look at my process objectively, with no emotion and what I SHOULD have done.
After that, I do a tally to see what my most common mistakes are. Here’s a screenshot. Now I have some suggestions to improve.
In general, I believe that the journal for a trader is one of the key tools that will allow you to control your development and track what allows you to get better and get rid of your certain shortcomings.
Yes, it’s really useful, especially when you do it publicly, because it allows you to feel sorry for yourself and continue to share your thoughts, ideas and experiences, the main thing is that people are more friendly and more suggestive than criticizing. Because tough criticism is only needed if it’s some kind of candid advertising. And the individual trader needs exactly the support.
Trading journals are a part of the discipline. Every trader’s journal should be maintained. If one does not maintain the journal properly, he will never be able to survive in trading for long. As a trader I always maintain journals. The journal protects me from unexpected losses.
