Writing the reason in the present tense before clicking: sample lines and what to do with them

[Fairman]

Writing the reason in the present tense before clicking: sample lines and what to do with them

A habit for the journal that takes ten seconds: before placing the order, type one line saying why, in the present tense, with numbers. Some examples, all made up for illustration.

"Long EURUSD 1.0803. M5 just closed above the 1.0802 range high. 17 pips to the 1.0820 swing high, stop 1.0795, 8 pips. 2.1R."
"Short GBPUSD 1.2741. Rejected 1.2755 twice in 40 minutes, lower highs on M5. Target 1.2710, stop 1.2756. 31 against 15, 2.1R."
"Long USDJPY 152.40. Pullback to the 20 EMA after a 60 pip move, EMA rising, stop 152.15."

A line like "felt like it would go up" can't be checked afterwards.

A line with a level, a stop and a distance can be reviewed. After 30 trades, you can sort them by the type of reason and see which ones worked. And the lines that are hard to write, because you can't find a number to put in them, usually belong to the trades you'd rather not have taken.

The rule is simple: no line, no order.

[FXS HongKong Scalper]

The present tense line is a great habit. It also makes the review much faster, because the reason is right there next to the result. I would add one more element: what would make the idea wrong, in a few words. "Wrong if M5 closes back below 1.0802." Writing the invalidation forces a check that the stop actually sits where the idea fails, and not just at a convenient distance.

[Fairman]

A template cuts the writing time. Fields: direction, symbol, price, trigger (what just happened), room (pips to the next level), stop (price and pips), reward to risk. Filled in: "Long, EURUSD, 1.0803, M5 close above 1.0802, 17 pips of room, stop 1.0795 / 8 pips, 2.1R." That's a sentence of twenty words and takes under a minute once the numbers are on the chart. If the trigger field has nothing you can name, that's the sign to wait. If room is under 1R, it shows up immediately in the line, which is the point of putting it there before the click.

[Fairman]

Vague words can be replaced with measurements. "Strong momentum" becomes "last three M5 closes each above the previous high, bodies 4 to 5 pips". "Near support" becomes "6 pips above 1.0780, which held twice today". "News coming" becomes "US CPI at 13:30, 40 minutes away". Each replacement takes seconds and turns a mood into a check you can make later. When the replacement isn't possible, because there's no measurement behind the word, then it was a feeling. Feelings are allowed, but you can then tag the trade as one and compare how they do, with the tag in a column.

[Fairman]

Timing matters. A reason written after the trade is a different thing, because by then you know the outcome, and the story shifts to fit. A winner picks up a clean reason, and a loser picks up an excuse. To keep the line honest, write it before the order and let the platform timestamp it, or screenshot the chart with the note before clicking, with the time in the file name. A note app with timestamps works too. When you review, the time on the note should be earlier than the time of the order, and if it isn't, count the trade as having no reason.

[Fairman]

For the review, sort by the trigger or the setup name and look at the average R for each group, plus a group for trades with no line at all. Twenty trades with no line and an average of -0.4R is a finding. So is the opposite result, if the no-line trades did well, which would say the notes aren't capturing what actually drives your decisions. Either answer is useful. Keep the groups to the sizes where the averages mean something, at least 15 or 20 trades per group, and don't change the rules based on groups of five.