GMan and I revamped our trading journals and the SMB trading journal on a 9 1/2 hour car ride home from the Outerbanks. And this has helped.
For me my trading journal helps me to focus on my monthly and daily trading goals. I start each morning writing down my goal for the day. So my day is just a scavenger hunt to gather data from the market to accomplish my daily goal. My P&L is forgotten. My goal for the day is not to make money but to become better.
This mindset reduces my stress. A reduced stress level while trading helps me intake the data the market is offering unfiltered with my biases. The data the market is offering is not colored with a hope that the data is confirming my position. Now I am searching for data that will help me with my goal for the day and my positions are just a side note to my primary goal.
For example, if my goal is to control my emotions for the day, then a loss on the Open because “the (expletive deleted) NASD orders were not working” (obviously this was not a random hypothetical) is a learning experience. I was unable to control my emotions when my orders were not working. Now I have another example of the things that may set me off. For the next week I will insert visualization exercises replaying this event which set me off.
And what is most interesting is that after I got pissed because of the stuck NASD orders I entered this into my journal. I more quickly recognized my present state of mind. And this relaxed me. Quickly I was able to reenter the proper trading mindset and look for good trading opportunities.
And here is what I did not do. I did not sit at my trading desk and continue to trade while pissed and turn a rip due to some dopey stuck orders (this happens) into five more rips that would have ruined my week. I wrote in my trading journal, recognized my state of mind, calmed down, and went back to work. I did not sabotage my trading results going forward with data saturated in frustration.
This is just one thing that I learn from my trading journal. I’m curious: what do you learn?
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10 Comments on “What Do You Learn From Your Trading Journal?”
Thanks so much for you advice on trading journals. I’ve been consistently keeping a hand written trading journal for the past 3 months or so and it has helped my swing trading tremendously. You gave me some great insights on how to improve my journal and structure it better.
I like the idea of keeping a journal in a spreadsheet format. It gives it more structure and consistency to what you enter into your journal.
I already have online trading self evaluation forms i fill on a weekly and monthly basis which automatically sends the data into my google spreadsheets. Its a great way to log your data and use it to look for correlations between trading performance and my subjective well being.
I still think i should keep a hand written journal to record ideas on the process of trading such as preparation, scanning, setups, risk management crucial aspects of trading.
Do you have any advice in structuring this type of journal that is less focused on day to day trading and more focused on the type of ideas listed above ?
Thanks!
Andrew.
Thanks so much for you advice on trading journals. I’ve been consistently keeping a hand written trading journal for the past 3 months or so and it has helped my swing trading tremendously. You gave me some great insights on how to improve my journal and structure it better.
I like the idea of keeping a journal in a spreadsheet format. It gives it more structure and consistency to what you enter into your journal.
I already have online trading self evaluation forms i fill on a weekly and monthly basis which automatically sends the data into my google spreadsheets. Its a great way to log your data and use it to look for correlations between trading performance and my subjective well being.
I still think i should keep a hand written journal to record ideas on the process of trading such as preparation, scanning, setups, risk management crucial aspects of trading.
Do you have any advice in structuring this type of journal that is less focused on day to day trading and more focused on the type of ideas listed above ?
Thanks!
Andrew.
A series of questions that I record and answer in my trading journal specifically when I am in a drawdown are the following:
1) Am I following my rules.
If I did not follow my rules:
A) Did my emotions interfere with my decisions?
B) was I distracted?
C)Was I not prepared?
If I did follow my rules is the drawdown due to:
A) Changing Market Conditions?
B)Normal system porbabilities?
3) Can my setup or risk management rules be improved?
A series of questions that I record and answer in my trading journal specifically when I am in a drawdown are the following:
1) Am I following my rules.
If I did not follow my rules:
A) Did my emotions interfere with my decisions?
B) was I distracted?
C)Was I not prepared?
If I did follow my rules is the drawdown due to:
A) Changing Market Conditions?
B)Normal system porbabilities?
3) Can my setup or risk management rules be improved?
Andrew,
Great stuff here. I like to write down all the details of my best trade as well so it is branded into my head.
Bella
Andrew,
Great stuff here. I like to write down all the details of my best trade as well so it is branded into my head.
Bella
Simply writing in a notebook how I am feeling in the trade is cathartic to me and I am able to control myself.This taes away the frustation and my correct trade size is also becoming apparent. I am better able to scratch the trades which were earlier left to hit stops. I am a note book writer before the trade, during the trade, after the trade .My notebook is my mirror and a fiction boo to me. Of course being an ex-academic helps.
Simply writing in a notebook how I am feeling in the trade is cathartic to me and I am able to control myself.This taes away the frustation and my correct trade size is also becoming apparent. I am better able to scratch the trades which were earlier left to hit stops. I am a note book writer before the trade, during the trade, after the trade .My notebook is my mirror and a fiction boo to me. Of course being an ex-academic helps.
I totally agree on writing down all the details on your best trades. I’ve already structured my daily journal to include your best and worst trade for the day. This should also supplement my monthly charting journal, which helps me analyze my trades from the past month in more detail. It provides insights in how well your exits are, if your are exiting too early or too late. (One of the biggest problems i found in my trades is that sometimes i don’t give my idea enough time to mature.)
In order to find what works and what doesn’t in my setups, at the end of every month i print out all my trades for the previous month. I start analyzing each individual trade and separating my trades per setup. Then i go through and subdivide each setup group in two categories, my best trades and my worst trades. This allows me to find which features dominate among the worst trades and which dominate among the best trades. From here i enhance or add to my existing setup rules.
I totally agree on writing down all the details on your best trades. I’ve already structured my daily journal to include your best and worst trade for the day. This should also supplement my monthly charting journal, which helps me analyze my trades from the past month in more detail. It provides insights in how well your exits are, if your are exiting too early or too late. (One of the biggest problems i found in my trades is that sometimes i don’t give my idea enough time to mature.)
In order to find what works and what doesn’t in my setups, at the end of every month i print out all my trades for the previous month. I start analyzing each individual trade and separating my trades per setup. Then i go through and subdivide each setup group in two categories, my best trades and my worst trades. This allows me to find which features dominate among the worst trades and which dominate among the best trades. From here i enhance or add to my existing setup rules.