Make good use of your trading journal 🧵 Improvement to gain...
Yumi🌸@samuraipips358
72 views
Apr 30, 2025
~3 min read
Advertisement
1
Make good use of your trading journal 🧵
Improvement to gain consistency begins with looking at yourself.
↓ Thread 1/5
Improvement to gain consistency begins with looking at yourself.
↓ Thread 1/5
2
2/5
I have introduced this before, but I recommend writing the trading journal for consistency improvement or your process improvement "before the trade".
The reason is simple.
I think most people write their trading journal after the trade, but this increases the risk of creating a large volume of records with outcome bias.
Based on a single outcome, you might think about "why you lost," or assume from the start that your judgment was poor regarding the losing trade result.
What is important is not the outcome but the process.
Improving the process is not about looking at things after everything is over, but about observing yourself just before taking action.
I have introduced this before, but I recommend writing the trading journal for consistency improvement or your process improvement "before the trade".
The reason is simple.
I think most people write their trading journal after the trade, but this increases the risk of creating a large volume of records with outcome bias.
Based on a single outcome, you might think about "why you lost," or assume from the start that your judgment was poor regarding the losing trade result.
What is important is not the outcome but the process.
Improving the process is not about looking at things after everything is over, but about observing yourself just before taking action.
3
3/5
Take a screenshot before the trade and write down what you are thinking at that time.
What are you thinking before you execute that trade?
Why do you think you should do it?
Are you afraid?
Are you feeling anxious and looking for "reasons not to do it"?
Is "the previous loss" crossing your mind?
What you are thinking is affecting your trade (process).
After it's all over, you realize things like "I shouldn't have done it" or "It wasn't a trade according to the rules in the first place," but the problem lies just before the trade.
Take a screenshot before the trade and write down what you are thinking at that time.
What are you thinking before you execute that trade?
Why do you think you should do it?
Are you afraid?
Are you feeling anxious and looking for "reasons not to do it"?
Is "the previous loss" crossing your mind?
What you are thinking is affecting your trade (process).
After it's all over, you realize things like "I shouldn't have done it" or "It wasn't a trade according to the rules in the first place," but the problem lies just before the trade.
4
4/5
When reviewing later, look at the pre-trade screenshot and consider "Would I really do it again".
Instead of reviewing whether you should have done it after knowing the outcome, consider whether you can say you would trade the same way again when encountering the same chart "before knowing the outcome," when you don't know the outcome.
If, no matter how many times you look at that chart, you can answer "I would do it," then that trade is a trade worth doing.
If your calm self makes the same judgment as the you in the midst of that process, then your trade is not wrong.
However, if you think you "would not do" that trade, think carefully about why you traded it at that time, and what the reason was for reaching a different judgment than when you are calm.
At that time, what you wrote about "what you were thinking before the trade" should become a big hint.
When reviewing later, look at the pre-trade screenshot and consider "Would I really do it again".
Instead of reviewing whether you should have done it after knowing the outcome, consider whether you can say you would trade the same way again when encountering the same chart "before knowing the outcome," when you don't know the outcome.
If, no matter how many times you look at that chart, you can answer "I would do it," then that trade is a trade worth doing.
If your calm self makes the same judgment as the you in the midst of that process, then your trade is not wrong.
However, if you think you "would not do" that trade, think carefully about why you traded it at that time, and what the reason was for reaching a different judgment than when you are calm.
At that time, what you wrote about "what you were thinking before the trade" should become a big hint.
5
5/5
If you say "It's the process, not the outcome," then you should improve that process, rather than reviewing things based on the outcome.
The process, in other words, is you before the trade.
This thread about how to write a journal is on the theme of improving your consistency.
I don't want you to misunderstand this as meaning "Don't keep records after the trade".
That, in itself, is a different theme, and reviewing things like outcome screenshots requires a much longer timeframe, and looking back at those after a year or so is fine.
Please remember that your "consistency improvement" lies "within your very thinking when facing the chart before knowing the outcome".
Thanks for reading!
If you enjoyed this thread, check out my books on trading.
【THE PATH TO SUCCESS IN TRADING】
E-book:payhip.com/b/H1ZBo
Paperback:a.co/d/fXmRhIa
【Trading Psychology】
E-book:payhip.com/b/SNnJC
Paperback:a.co/d/d0QJMxK
Hope these insights help your trading journey 😊
If you say "It's the process, not the outcome," then you should improve that process, rather than reviewing things based on the outcome.
The process, in other words, is you before the trade.
This thread about how to write a journal is on the theme of improving your consistency.
I don't want you to misunderstand this as meaning "Don't keep records after the trade".
That, in itself, is a different theme, and reviewing things like outcome screenshots requires a much longer timeframe, and looking back at those after a year or so is fine.
Please remember that your "consistency improvement" lies "within your very thinking when facing the chart before knowing the outcome".
Thanks for reading!
If you enjoyed this thread, check out my books on trading.
【THE PATH TO SUCCESS IN TRADING】
E-book:payhip.com/b/H1ZBo
Paperback:a.co/d/fXmRhIa
【Trading Psychology】
E-book:payhip.com/b/SNnJC
Paperback:a.co/d/d0QJMxK
Hope these insights help your trading journey 😊