Why Journalling Separates Serious Traders From Gamblers
My name is Andrew Lockwood. I’ve been trading for over 35 years, including two decades in the trading pits in the City of London, brightly coloured jackets, lots of noise, and very big risk being taken every day.
And if there’s one habit I’ve seen consistently separate the traders who improve from the traders who repeat the same mistakes forever, it’s this:
They keep a proper trading journal.
Most new traders pour all their energy into searching for the “perfect strategy”. But success in trading rarely comes from a magical setup. It comes from building a process, just like any business. And a trading journal is a core part of that process.
If you’re not tracking your trades, you’re basically flying blind.
Watch the Video: Trading Journalling Explained
What a Trading Journal Actually Does (It’s Not Just a Record)
Trading involves risk. That means:
- You will have winning trades
- You will have losing trades
- Money will leave your account sometimes
- And that never feels great
But losing trades shouldn’t be “wasted”. Even if the setup was valid and the loss was simply the cost of doing business, a journal helps you spot repeating patterns that contribute to unnecessary losses, things like poor timing, breaking rules, emotional decisions, or inconsistent risk.
Think of your journal as a personal database that tells you:
- What’s working
- What isn’t working
- And most importantly: why
What Should You Use for a Trading Journal?
You’ve got options:
- A simple Excel or Google Sheets spreadsheet
- Third-party journalling software
- Pen and paper (possible, but harder to spot patterns)
My preference is using something digital (Excel or software) because it’s easier to track behaviour over time and attach screenshots.
And here’s the key point:
Your journal is only as good as the input you put in.
Be honest. No point “fudging the books”, because the only person you’re fooling is yourself.
What to Include in Your Trading Journal (The Essentials)
The more you track, the more useful it becomes. Here’s what I consider the most important information to record for every trade:
1) Date and time of the trade
Simple, but vital for spotting patterns by session, time of day, or day of week.
2) Strategy name
Name your strategy so you can measure it properly. I also recommend avoiding strategy overload—especially early on. Ideally:
- One trend strategy
- One counter-trend strategy
- One consolidation/range strategy
(Maximum three.)
3) Instrument / market traded
FX pair, index, commodity, stock—this lets you identify what suits you best.
4) Timeframe used
5-minute, 15-minute, 1-hour, 4-hour—your performance can vary massively by timeframe.
5) Direction
Long or short. When you match this with the market traded, you may find that (for example) you perform better buying indices than selling them. You won’t know without journalling.
6) Entry price, intended exit, and position size
Record the plan, not just the outcome. Include lot size / contracts so you can track sizing consistency.
7) Risk allocation (percentage risk used)
I strongly prefer a consistent percentage risk model per trade. It supports compounding when things are going well and helps protect you during drawdown.
8) Setup grading
Grade each trade: A, B, (and ideally avoid C).
Grade-A setups may justify a slightly higher risk allocation than a B-grade setup — but only if you have rules for this and it’s planned.
9) Trade result (profit/loss)
Obvious, but essential.
10) Mistakes made (be brutally honest)
Examples:
- Entered too early / too late
- Exited too early / too late
- Revenge trading
- Broke the rules
- FOMO
- Bad stop placement
Write it down. Over time, patterns become obvious.
11) Psychology notes
How did you feel before, during, after?
- Calm and focused?
- Stressed and rushed?
- Angry after a loss?
- Elated after a win?
This becomes incredibly valuable when you review weekly.
12) Screenshots of the trade
This is a big reason to journal digitally. A screenshot turns your notes into something you can actually study.
The Metrics Your Journal Should Track (So You Can Measure Progress)
Once your journal has enough trades, you can extract real performance data. These are the key metrics I recommend tracking:
Core performance
- Average win and average loss
- Cumulative profit and loss
- Drawdown (especially important in prop-style programs)
- Profit factor (average profit ÷ average loss)
- Expectancy
Consistency and stability
- Consecutive wins and consecutive losses
This is crucial. Some traders abandon a good strategy after 4–5 losses. But if your backtesting shows the strategy can historically produce 8–10 losses in a run and still be profitable overall, you won’t panic and start switching systems.
Strategy optimisation
- Risk-to-reward ratios (what works best for which strategy)
- Best and worst instrument / asset class
- Best and worst day of the week (some traders struggle on Mondays or Fridays)
- Best and worst timeframe (some traders are excellent on 1H but terrible on 5m)
A Simple Excel Journal Example (How It Can Look)
You can build this in Excel with a clean trade log tab that includes:
- Strategy name
- Symbol / market
- Trading style (intraday, swing, scalping)
- Timeframe
- Grade
- Buy/sell
- Date
- Lot size / position size
- Risk
- Cumulative P&L
- Account balance
- Drawdown
Then add a section for the “honesty box”:
- Mistakes (drop-down options like bad stop placement, poor R:R, stressed, FOMO, broke rules)
- Comments (what happened and why)
- Psychology notes
From there, Excel can summarise:
- win/loss ratio
- profit factor
- expectancy
- P&L by strategy
- results by day of week
- common mistakes (often the most useful insight)
And you can keep a separate tab for uploading screenshots of each trade so your review is fast and visual.
How to Review Your Journal (This Is Where the Value Is)
A journal isn’t about being perfect.
It’s about being aware.
If you review weekly, you’ll start seeing patterns like:
- You overtrade after 3:00pm
- Your biggest losses happen when you break one specific rule
- You take lower quality trades after a win (overconfidence) or after a loss (revenge)
Those insights are pure gold, and they’re what turn trading from gambling into a business.
Final Word
The trading opportunities available today are huge, but only if you treat this seriously and build the habits that support long-term performance.
If you enjoyed the video, leave a comment below and tell me what you’d like covered next. I read the comments, and I’ll see you in the next one.
Rooting for your success.
Important Educational Disclaimer
This content is for educational purposes only. It is not investment advice and not an inducement to trade. Funded Trading Plus programs operate in a simulated environment using virtual funds. No real or regulated capital is traded, and any payouts are calculated from simulated profits in line with program terms.