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Navrya Academy · Field notesNAV-CNT-002 · Rev A · Psychology

Academy · Guide

Trading Psychology Journal: Emotions After Trades

Most trading mistakes repeat. The same feeling tends to arrive before the same kind of trade, and it is easy to forget by the next morning. A psychology journal records that feeling while it is still fresh, so you can read it alongside the trade it belongs to.

Spec

Category
Psychology
Reading time
3 min read
Updated
Sections
7
Language
English

Why emotions belong in the journal

A journal that records prices and setups but not feelings is missing the variable that most often decides whether a rule gets followed. Writing down an emotion is not a judgement of you. It is information about the conditions in which a decision was made.

A price line across the page, with a dashed line at the entry and another at the exit. A hollow ring above the line marks the note written before the entry, and a filled dot below the line marks the note written after the exit.
FIG. 1Two notes around one trade: one written before the entry, one after the exit.

What to write for each trade

Before the entry
The feeling you have right now, in one word, written before you place the order.
After the exit
The feeling once the trade is closed, in one word, written within the hour.
Rule followed
Whether you did what your plan said, and which rule it was.
Next time
One sentence on what you would do differently, written without blame.

Choose a small vocabulary

Pick six to eight words and use only those. A short list keeps the notes comparable, and it stops you writing a paragraph about the result when you meant to record the feeling. A workable list for most traders includes fear, greed, hesitation, impulse, boredom, relief, frustration and confidence.

Define each word in one line, in your own terms. “Impulse” might mean “I entered before the scenario was complete.” Your definition is the one that matters, because you will read the notes against it later.

When to write it

Write the entry note before you place the order. Write the exit note within the hour. A note written at the end of the week describes a memory of a trade, not the trade itself, and memory tends to smooth over the feelings that were uncomfortable.

If you miss a note, leave it blank and say so. A blank is a fact about the day. A note filled in later is a story.

Read the notes over a month

  1. 01

    Group the notes by emotion across the month, and count each group.

  2. 02

    Find the emotion that comes before your largest losses.

  3. 03

    Check whether the same emotion comes before your best trades. If it does, the emotion is not the problem on its own. The rule you followed or broke is.

  4. 04

    Compare the days when you wrote every note with the days you did not. The gaps are often where the pattern hides.

Warning signs to act on

Some patterns need a plan before the next session, not just more notes:

  • You change your position size, skip the plan or move a stop after a loss, more than once in a week.
  • You feel you must win back a loss the same day.
  • Trading keeps you awake, or your notes start to describe constant pressure rather than a few moments.

What a journal cannot do

A journal shows patterns. It does not remove them. Changing a habit usually needs a plan you can follow on a bad day: a fixed break after two losses, a written rule for when to stop, or a review partner who reads the notes with you.