Your first trading plan (template included)
In this lesson you'll learn
- Why a written plan beats good intentions
- The sections every plan needs
- A one-page template you can fill in today
A plan decides before emotions do
In the moment, every trade looks reasonable. A written plan makes the important decisions in advance, while you're calm, so that trading becomes following rules rather than reacting to the chart.
The one-page template
- Why I trade, and my goal for the next 3 months (e.g. "follow my rules on 40 trades, losing no more than 6%").
- Markets: which symbols, and only those (e.g. EURUSD, GBPUSD, XAUUSD).
- Times: when I trade (e.g. London session, 08:00–11:00).
- Setup: the exact conditions for an entry, in one or two sentences.
- Entry, stop and target rules.
- Risk: % per trade (e.g. 1%), maximum open risk (e.g. 3%), daily loss limit (e.g. 3%).
- Trade management: when I move to breakeven, take partials, or close early.
- No-trade rules: e.g. no trades 15 minutes around high-impact news; no trades after two losses in a row.
- Review: journal every trade; weekly review every Friday.
Keep it testable
Every rule should be clear enough that someone else could follow it. "Buy when it looks strong" isn't a rule. "Buy when price pulls back to the 50 EMA in an uptrend on H1 and a bullish candle closes" is.
Change it on a schedule
Don't change the plan after one loss. Collect at least 20–30 trades, then review the results and adjust one thing at a time.
Common mistakes
- Keeping the plan in your head instead of writing it down.
- Rules too vague to test.
- Rewriting the plan after every losing day.
Check yourself
1. Which is a usable rule?
2. When should you change your plan?
3. A daily loss limit belongs in which section?
Key takeaways
- Write the plan down: markets, times, setup, risk, management, no-trade rules.
- Make every rule specific enough to test.
- Review on a schedule, and change one thing at a time.
Education, not advice. Goldman Academy teaches how markets and tools work. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell, and no lesson promises profits. Trading leveraged products carries a high risk of losing money; only trade money you can afford to lose. · Written by Goldman Academy, reviewed by Faisal