If you have been in the trading world for a few years or longer, you know that consistent improvement is the key to success. To achieve this, traders rely on a powerful, but incredibly simple tool: Trade Review. An important component of this is the Weekly Performance Review. This structured process is designed to evaluate your trading activities, pinpoint strengths, address weaknesses, and pave the way for better decision-making. Let's delve into each component of this invaluable review process, following the framework provided:
Weekly Performance Review:
Ensure you have journaled all the week's trades (including screenshots of charts and executions for context).
Step 1: Reflect on the Week
At the heart of your weekly review is reflection. Take a moment to ask yourself:
What worked well this week?
What didn't?
Step 2: Dive Deeper
To gain deeper insights, consider these questions when answering the above:
Was there a type of trade that did/didn't work well?
Was there a particular market that you did/didn't trade well?
Was there a particular day/time that you did/didn't trade well?
Did you enter trades too soon?
Did you enter trades too late?
Did you take profit too soon?
Did you take profit too late?
Were your stops too tight?
Did you take poor/risk reward trades?
Did you risk too much?
Did you risk too little?
Did you miss any trades?
Did you deviate from your plan? If so, why? What was the outcome?
Step 3: The Key Question
Now, consider this pivotal question:
Are your answers above familiar? Ex: They're recurring in your trading, and you haven't taken action to do more of what works and less/the opposite of what doesn't.
Step 4: Addressing Recurring Issues
For recurring problems in your trading:
What is the problem?
Why do I have this problem?
What is the solution?
How can I action it?
Step 5: Building on Recurring Positives
For recurring positives:
How could you do more of what worked?
Step 6: Study the Market Moves
Conclude your review with a vital task:
Study the biggest move of the week across the markets you trade. Can you see anything that would have caused you to catch it?
In conclusion, the Weekly Performance Review is not just a routine; it's your roadmap to trading success. If you want an easy template to follow and hold yourself accountable to completing this activity, check out the Trading Playbook where this template is included. By following this framework diligently, you can transform your trading approach from speculative to strategic. Sadly, most of the developing traders that I speak with aren’t doing any sort of review, and that is why they continue to struggle. The consistency in this process is your path to long-term success in trading, and will keep you sharp through shifting markets. Embrace the power of the Weekly Performance Review, and watch your trading skills and profitability reach new heights.
