Keeping a Trade Journal is a good idea

Your trade notebook keeps track of all of your trading activity.

A trading log is a tool that any serious trader who wants to make money may use to critically analyze themselves.

There are three components to long-term trading success:

• Having and following a sound trading strategy.

• As part of that strategy, you'll need a decent trading system.

• Examine and enhance your trading strategy and performance.

Every forex trader should keep a journal devoted to these aspects.

The goal of this journal is to track both the performance of your trading system and your ability to consistently execute it.

Poor trading systems are less frequently the source of poor trading performance than the trader's inability to follow the trading system's regulations.

That's what the Trading Plan entails. Your trading journal is designed to help you do exactly that.

Journals are only as good as the content they include. It is difficult to assess trading performance if trades are not carefully tracked.

This should be a continuous effort, not just a one-time effort to do a task.

Be detailed and truthful. Do not undervalue yourself by omitting or incompletely filling out forms.

Learning to keep a trading journal will help you develop discipline.

Not only that, but we guarantee you'll learn a lot about yourself and your trading mentality after a month of trading if you reflect on your entries.

You'll be able to see exactly what you're excellent at, what you're bad at, and what the ideal approach to trade is for YOU.

There is nothing a mentor, a book, a video, or a conference can tell you about this. You must go through it for yourself. You will only become a successful trader after gaining this experience.

You must have the desire to keep a trading journal in order to improve your trading skills.

Finally, here's some advise on how to keep a useful trading journal:

Always start your journal before you trade and finish it once you've finished trading.

• Make a list of everything. Nothing should be left undone.

• Be truthful. If you were in the middle of a deal and decided to play Call of Duty instead of exiting it, make a note of it and explain why.

• Pay close attention to how you're feeling. Then make a point of writing them down.

• Make sure to include observations about you and your trade, as well as the currency market, in your journal. Trading journals, we've seen, are typically slanted toward self-analysis and contain little in the way of market monitoring.

• Take a screenshot of each day's intraday charts and add comments on them. Make a mental note of the patterns you're seeing.

• After a few months, you'll begin to notice patterns emerge in real time.

• A trading log is a useful tool for learning and training your eye to recognize the setups you wish to trade.

• Nothing is too ridiculous to jot down in your journal. Make a note of it. If you missed a transaction because you were watching the latest episode of The Crown, playing Call of Duty, or talking to your sweetheart, make a note of it. Take notes on everything!