A journal is the cheapest improvement available to any trader, and the most frequently abandoned. Here is how to keep one that survives past the second week.
What to record
| Field | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Market | Patterns often cluster in specific markets |
| Expiry | Reveals which durations actually suit you |
| Stake | Shows whether your sizing is consistent |
| Reason | The single most valuable field |
| Result | Only meaningful alongside the reason |
Write the reason before you know the outcome. A reason written afterwards is a justification, and justifications teach you nothing.
Why it works
Over a handful of trades, results are mostly noise. Over fifty, patterns appear — in which markets suit you, which durations you read well, and which situations you consistently misjudge.
None of that is visible from memory. Memory keeps the dramatic trades and quietly discards the ordinary ones, which is exactly the wrong sample.
Keeping it sustainable
- Keep it short. Five fields you fill in beats twenty you abandon.
- Fill it in as you go, not at the end of the day.
- Review weekly, looking for patterns rather than lessons from individual trades.
- Include the trades you did not take when you nearly did. Those are often the most instructive.
Start on the demo
Journalling demo trades builds the habit before real money makes it feel like an admin chore. By the time you go live, it is already routine.
Practise it free
The fastest way to make any of this concrete is to watch it happen. A demo account uses virtual funds, needs no deposit, and behaves exactly like live trading.