Excel as Forex Trading Journal
A journal physically could be a bound note book, a ring binder full of papers, a collection of electrical particles on computer disk or an audio tape. People journal in different ways .Journal is also a tool for self-discovery, an aid to concentration, a mirror for the soul, a place to generate and capture ideas, a safety valve for the emotions, a training ground for the writer, and a good friend and confidant.
The exercise of keeping the journal keeps a FOREX trader updated. Keeping a personalized trading journal of all your market transactions is one of the most valuable actions a trader can perform, it will help you to become a better currency trader. Using a detailed trading journal will help you to recognize and eliminate trading errors you make over and over again; it can turn your weaknesses into strengths. By grouping your trading errors into classes such as “closed too soon” ,”didn’t follow my strategy”, “switched time frame”, “fear of pulling the trigger”, etc, you can easily identify a weakness in your trading strategy and start to focus on not making that specific error anymore, even if this will take time. Once you have effaced your error, start focusing on another until you remove all of them..
A trading journal is divided into three main categories:
Numerical input where the date of each transaction, the currency pair symbol, the number of lots bought or sold and the gain or loss is jotted down.
Decision process –the reason why did you buy or sell the currency pair or did you close the trade is written. List all mistakes you have made and make sure to address and be specific what steps will you take to ensure that mistakes make in a trade will not be repeated. It requires some work and consistency to make a journal worthwhile. Keeping a trading journal is an invaluable tool for the currency trader as it helps to refine your strategies and avoid potential issues. Keeping a journal may make the difference between being an average trader and an expert currency trader.
The master key is to have some way to measure, track, and stay focused on improving your performance in the future. One should keep a trading journal to become a better currency trader! Keeping a journal has many advantages and benefits. Whether you write a few lines or pages, through journaling, you can record and track a lot of information that can be easily retained for future reference. You can actually see what you were thinking because your thoughts and experiences are in a journal. When you commit to writing them down, you have put your thoughts and experiences into a solid form. Some advantages of writing a journal are: Reduces stress - Journaling has a proven benefit of reducing stress.
Once you’ve journaled , you don’t carry as much of what you have written about within you. It is on the paper or in the computer. By journaling, you give yourself a powerful form of self-expression, and through that expression you can gain clarity, release, and relief. Setting goals and resolutions - You can actually see and better understand what you want, what is important to you, and how you feel, through journaling. Then you can create goals and resolutions to support what you are thinking and writing about. Journaling your goals and what you want to accomplish for the day, the month, the year, or a lifetime, is an excellent tool to help you get those things done. You can create a personal checklist of “things to do.”
Writing a journal helps focus - Writing in a journal creates more personal awareness, and therefore more focus on the issues that are important to you. You can give the benefits of journaling to a friend, or to yourself. With the benefits of journaling in mind and the powerful insights it gives a Forex journal can be considered a worthy task.