Trading Plan
Definition
A trading plan is a comprehensive written document that defines your strategy rules, risk parameters, entry/exit criteria, and daily routine. It removes emotion from trading decisions by providing clear guidelines to follow.
A trading plan is the single most important document a prop trader can have. It should include: which instruments you trade, what setups trigger entries, where you place stops and targets, how much you risk per trade, how many trades you take per day, when you stop trading for the day, and how you handle losing streaks.
For prop trading specifically, the plan should incorporate the firm's rules as constraints. For example: 'I will risk maximum 1% per trade, stop trading for the day if I lose 3% (personal limit below the 5% daily limit), and reduce lot size by 50% if I'm down 5% overall on the challenge.'
Writing a plan is the easy part — following it is hard. That's where tools like PropJournal help by tracking your actual behavior against your plan. Did you follow your entry rules? Did you respect your personal daily limit? Did you trade during your planned hours? The AI coach flags deviations from your plan in your trade reviews.
Track trading plan automatically
PropJournal monitors your prop firm metrics in real-time and alerts you before violations. Free to start, no credit card required.
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