Trading Craft 101 · Lesson 05 — The Journal
🔵 THE UNUSED EDGE
Most traders collect setups, not data. They can tell you the pattern they trade, but not their own win rate, average R, or biggest losing streak. Their edge exists — and they have no idea what it is. The journal is the tool that fixes that.
🔵 WHAT TO RECORD
Every trade: the setup (which pattern, which timeframe), entry and exit, the R-multiple, the reason in one sentence, the emotions in one word (calm, greedy, bored, revenge). The emotions column matters more than it looks — it is the only column that predicts the next mistake.
🔵 THE WEEKLY REVIEW
Once a week, answer three questions from the journal, not from memory: which setup made money, which one lost, and which trade violated the plan? The third question is the gold: plan violations are the only losses you control. Process errors are the leak; the journal finds it.
🔵 THE NUMBERS THAT MATTER
Track three numbers over rolling samples: win rate, average R per trade, and max losing streak. Win rate alone lies — 40% win rate at +2R average is a great system. The combination is the truth, and it only exists in the journal.
Next lesson: psychology — why discipline is not a personality trait but a system.
Educational content only. Not investment advice.
TITradingView Ideas16 Sept