Trading Plan Template: Build Your Plan in 10 Minutes
A trading plan turns good intentions into rules you can actually follow. Fill in the template, copy it, and keep it next to your charts.
A trading plan states in writing, before the market opens: which markets and sessions you trade, the exact setups you take, your risk per trade, your daily loss limit, and how you review afterwards. A rule that is not written down is not a rule.
Trading plan template (fill in, then copy)
Why write a trading plan?
Most costly trading mistakes happen in the moment: an impulsive entry, a stop moved "just this once", one more trade to win back a loss. A written plan makes those decisions in advance, while you're calm. During the session your only job is to follow it.
What goes in a trading plan
- Markets: a short list you know well. Fewer markets means faster pattern recognition.
- Hours: the session you'll trade, see our market hours clock.
- Risk limits: maximum risk per trade and a daily loss limit that ends the session.
- Setup: the exact, checkable conditions for an entry. If two people couldn't agree whether your setup is present, it isn't specific enough yet.
- Stops and targets: where the idea is proven wrong, and where you'll take profit.
- No-trade rules: news windows, tiredness, a set number of consecutive losses.
- Review: how and when you'll look back at your trades.
Chart Bound is a free browser game that drills exactly this on real historical charts: read the candles, make the call, see instantly if you were right.
Play free, no signup →Make the setup testable
"Buy when it looks strong" can't be tested. "Buy when the 4-hour trend is up, price sweeps the previous day's low, and a 15-minute candle closes back above it" can. Specific rules let you count how often the setup appears, how it performs, and whether you actually followed it.
Review weekly, change slowly
Judge the plan on a decent sample of trades, not one bad day. Change one rule at a time, write down why, and give it time to show whether it helped. Keep screenshots, because your memory of a trade is rarely as accurate as the chart.
Frequently asked questions
What should a trading plan include?
Markets, trading hours, risk per trade, a daily loss limit, the exact entry setup, stop and target rules, conditions when you won't trade, and a review routine.
How long should a trading plan be?
Short enough to read before every session, usually one page. Longer detail can live in a separate playbook of setups.
Does a trading plan guarantee profits?
No. A plan makes your behaviour consistent and measurable; whether the approach works still depends on the setup, the market and execution.
How often should I change my trading plan?
Rarely, and one rule at a time after reviewing a meaningful number of trades. Frequent changes make it impossible to know what's working.
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Keep learning
Chart Bound is a free browser game that drills exactly this on real historical charts: read the candles, make the call, see instantly if you were right.
Play free, no signup →