Review with a journal
Turn completed trades into useful feedback.
01
Keep a record you can audit
Give each practice idea an ID. Record the asset, venue, timezone, timeframe, setup rules and screenshot before entry. Afterwards add the assumed or actual fills, quantity, all costs, exit reason and result. Label each record historical, simulated or live. Never mix paper outcomes with executed trades in a performance claim.
02
Keep R fixed
If the original planned price-loss budget is £10, a £20 gain before £2 of costs is £18 net, or +1.8R. A £10 price loss plus £2 of costs is −£12 net, or −1.2R. Do not enlarge the original risk denominator after a loss to make the result look smaller. A skipped trade has no realised trading return; keep it outside win-rate and expectancy calculations.
03
Score the process separately
Use four yes/no checks: was the plan written first, was the trigger present, was exposure calculated, and were the exit rules followed? A profitable rule-breaking trade can fail these checks. A losing trade can pass them. Then record one specific improvement such as “capture the daily chart before reviewing the four-hour setup”, instead of a vague instruction to be more disciplined.
04
A small sample is a lesson, not proof
Hypothetical net results of +1.8R, −1.2R and +0.4R total +1.0R and average about +0.33R per executed paper trade. That arithmetic does not prove positive future expectancy. Three observations are highly uncertain, may cover only one market condition and may hide unrealistic execution. Review costs, drawdown, rule adherence and data quality alongside the average.
05
Use a weekly review
Collect every record from the week, including losses and skipped ideas. Look for repeated mistakes before changing strategy rules. Make one documented change with a reason, then evaluate it on new examples rather than repeatedly fitting rules to the same attractive chart. Keep account balances, personal information and exchange credentials out of shared screenshots.
Practice exercise
Complete worksheet B for three hypothetical outcomes: +£20 gross with £2 costs; −£10 gross with £2 costs; +£5 gross with £1 costs. Use an original £10 risk budget for each. Add a fourth record for a setup whose trigger never occurred, without counting it as a winning trade.
Download practice workbook (.txt)Knowledge check
Should a profitable trade that ignored its entry and risk rules receive a good process score?
No. Outcome and rule adherence are different measurements. The three example net outcomes are +1.8R, −1.2R and +0.4R; their +0.33R mean is descriptive, not evidence of a reliable edge.
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Educational information, not personalised financial advice. Examples do not establish future performance. Trading can result in substantial losses.