Plan Your Trade.

Learn to trade Plan Your Trade

Think of your trading plan as your map to success. It will be a constant reminder of how you will make money in this market. Of course it’s not required, and if you can make your living by trading without a plan. So you can trade without a plan if you want, but before you make that decision, let me give you a few reasons WHY you should have one.

Why Have a Trading Plan?

Reason 1: It keeps you in the right direction
Consistency is very important to have in your trading routine because it allows you to truly measure how successful you are as a trader. If you have a sound trading system but always break your rules, how can you ever really know how good your system really is? Your trading plan will keep you on target. Read it every day and stick to it.

Reason 2: Trading is a business and successful businesses ALWAYS have plans
I have never seen a successful business not start out with a plan. Do you honestly think Walmart was just created on a whim and then magically became successful? Or what about McDonalds? I’m sure almost anyone can make a better hamburger than McDonalds, but the difference between them and the individual is that they have a successful business plan that guides them to success.

Now you know why you should have a trading plan. Let's find out what makes up a trading plan...

What Should Be In Your Trading Plan?
Trading plans can be as simple or complex as you want it, but the most important thing is that you actually have a plan and you follow the plan. With that said, here are some of the essentials that every trading plan should have.

1. A trading system
This system should be one that you have thoroughly backtested, and have traded for at least two months on a demo account.

Include all the necessary information about your system such as: time frames you use, criteria for entries and exits, how much you risk during each trade, which currency pair(s) you trade and how many lots you trade.

2. Your trading routine
This is a crucial part of your plan because it will determine three very important things: when you will analyze the market and plan your trades, when you will actually watch the market to take trades, and when you will evaluate your actions during your trading day.

3. Your mindset
Ask any trader out there and they will all tell you that one of the hardest things to do when trading is to take out your emotions from it. This section of your trading plan will describe what frame of mind you will be in when you are trading.

4. Your weaknesses
Yes, we all have our weaknesses. We just don’t like talking about them. But ask yourself this, “How will you ever get better, if you don’t admit to what you need to work on?” This section will be an objective way to keep track of things that you need to work on in order to become a better trader.

5. Your goals
“To make a lot of money” is not a good goal. Sit down and really think about what you want to accomplish as a trader. Do you want to trade for a living? How much return can you realistically expect from trading based on your knowledge and experience? Your goals don’t even have to be about making money. Maybe you would like to be more disciplined or gain more confidence. These goals can be personal. What do YOU want to get out of this? Use these goals as your motivation when times get tough. These goals will be your vision, and you must always keep your eyes on the prize!

6. Your trading journal
This will be a valuable tool to helping you become a better trader. Make sure you log all your trades and why you took them. Later down the road you can look back and evaluate your trades and see how you are progressing. I’ve looked back at my trade journal and have seen just how much I’ve grown as a trader. My first entries were very basic and as I’ve progressed, my trades make more sense to me now. I’ve gained a lot of confidence throughout my career and by looking back at my trades, I’ve really been able to evaluate myself and see if I am getting closer to my goals. This tool will help you tremendously in the long run, so take a few minutes each day and log your trades. You’ll be happy you did!

Summary:

Your trading plan will be your trading “bible”. Read it everyday and stick to it. You can have all the trading tools in the world, but if you don’t have a plan on how you will use them, you will never be successful. Remember, you are starting a business, and if you want your business to succeed, you need to have a PLAN!