Discipline

Discipline means following your process even when you don’t feel like it.

It’s easy to follow your rules after three winning trades.

The real test is following them after three losses.

Journaling

A trading journal allows you to review your decisions objectively.

Record:

• Date
• Instrument
• Direction
• Entry
• Stop
• Target
• Risk
• Result
• Setup
• Reason for entry
• Emotional state
• Screenshot
• Mistakes
• Lessons

Don’t Only Record Winners and Losers

A trade can be:

A good loss

if you followed your rules and the trade simply didn’t work.

A trade can also be:

A bad win

if you broke your rules but happened to make money.

This is an extremely important concept.

Don’t reward bad behaviour simply because it produced a profitable outcome.

Your Trading Plan

Your trading plan should answer:

What will I trade?

For example:

Gold and selected Forex pairs.

When will I trade?

For example:

London and/or New York session.

What setups will I trade?

Define your strategy rules.

How much will I risk?

Define your maximum risk.

Where will I stop?

Define your invalidation/stop-loss rules.

When will I stop trading?

Define your daily loss and trade limits.

What news will I avoid or monitor?

Define your news rules.

How will I review my performance?

Use your trading journal.