The Trading Journal: Learning From Every Trade
Risk warning: A journal does not remove risk. It only helps you learn. This is education, not financial advice.
A trading journal is a short note for every trade. It shows what you did right and what you repeated wrong.
What to write per trade
- Date and WAT time (for example 02/09/2026 2pm WAT, London session)
- Pair and direction (EUR/USD buy)
- Entry / Stop / Take profit and lot size (for example 0.01 lot, risk ₦150 = 1%)
- Result (win/loss, pips, ₦)
- Lesson (one sentence: "chased FOMO" or "waited for pullback")
Example: 02/09 14:10 EUR/USD buy 1.0800 SL 1.0780 TP 1.0840 0.01 lot -20 pips -₦300 — moved stop too close
How to use it
Review every 20 trades:
- Which setup worked? (trend + pullback to support)
- Which mistake repeats? (revenge after loss, trading quiet Tokyo hours)
- Fix one rule next week.
Keep your NIN/BVN and bank details private — do not paste them in the journal.
Start the journal on demo, then keep it on cent live with ₦15,000 / ~$10. See How to Use a Demo Account and From Demo to Live.
Rate used: ~₦1,500 / $1. Small amounts like ₦150 use same rate.
Bottom line: Write date, pair, stop and one lesson per trade and review 20, or you risk repeating the same costly mistake.