It's the end of the month and I've been doing some housekeeping, going over my plans, checklists, etc. It occurred to me that some things don't get mentioned a lot, such as trade organization.
I use the following everyday:
A daily checklist of what to look at and for.
A money management checklist. Even though I know it by heart, I read it everyday so I won't get cocky or stupid.
A pre-trade checklist. This is designed to keep me from making impulsive trades (always my weakness).
A trade setup checklist. I look for certain things and using the checklist keeps me from taking trades I really don't want to be in.
An Exit Ritual. This is something I've never seen on forums. It was taught to me by a professional and it is probably the most valuable thing I use. Before I close out any trade, I go over the Ritual to make sure it's the right time to close the trade. Another one of my weaknesses is closing out trades early (a pretty common one among all traders) and this ritual keeps me in lots of trades when I read it and realize I want to close for no good reason other than greed.
Finally, here's a rule that was taught to me that has proven to be very valuable to me. It might prove to be the same for you.
Don't make any changes to any of your rules on a weekday!
This keeps you from impulsive screwing around. If you find that you cannot continue with your current rules, stop trading for the rest of the week, then make your changes over the weekend.
I use the following everyday:
A daily checklist of what to look at and for.
A money management checklist. Even though I know it by heart, I read it everyday so I won't get cocky or stupid.
A pre-trade checklist. This is designed to keep me from making impulsive trades (always my weakness).
A trade setup checklist. I look for certain things and using the checklist keeps me from taking trades I really don't want to be in.
An Exit Ritual. This is something I've never seen on forums. It was taught to me by a professional and it is probably the most valuable thing I use. Before I close out any trade, I go over the Ritual to make sure it's the right time to close the trade. Another one of my weaknesses is closing out trades early (a pretty common one among all traders) and this ritual keeps me in lots of trades when I read it and realize I want to close for no good reason other than greed.
Finally, here's a rule that was taught to me that has proven to be very valuable to me. It might prove to be the same for you.
Don't make any changes to any of your rules on a weekday!
This keeps you from impulsive screwing around. If you find that you cannot continue with your current rules, stop trading for the rest of the week, then make your changes over the weekend.