Putting Your Complete Trading Plan Together

The Complete Trading Plan Template

Here is a complete, fillable template for your personal trading plan. Work through each section in order:

TRADING PLAN — [YOUR NAME] — [DATE]

VERSION: 1.0 (update version number with each significant revision)

SECTION 1: MY EDGE

My trading edge is:

[One specific sentence describing what you do that generates consistent positive expectancy]

Setups I trade:

1. 1[Setup name, strategy overview, 2 sentences]
2. 2[Setup name, strategy overview, 2 sentences]
3. 3[Setup name, strategy overview, 2 sentences]

(Start with 2–3 maximum. Add only after existing setups are proven over 50+ trades.)

SECTION 2: MARKET AND SESSION RULES

Instruments I trade: _

Sessions I trade: _

Market conditions my strategy requires: _

Market conditions where I do not trade: _

Pre-market checklist (daily, before trading):

☐ Review yesterday's journal

☐ Write today's plan and key levels

☐ Set today's maximum loss: $_

☐ Assess emotional state (if 4+, do not trade)

SECTION 3: RISK MANAGEMENT

[Fill in all fields from the risk rules template in Lesson 3]

SECTION 4: ENTRY RULES

For each setup:

Setup 1: [NAME]

• Market condition required: _
• Timeframe: _
• Entry criteria (ALL must be met):

1. _

2. _

3. _

• Stop placement: _
• Target: _

[Repeat for each setup]

SECTION 5: EXIT RULES

Stop loss: [From Section 3 — detailed here per setup]

Take profit: [Specific formula or level for each setup]

Time-based exit: [If holding past X hours/days with no progress to target: _]

Partial exit rule: [_% of position at first target; trail remainder]

SECTION 6: REVIEW SCHEDULE

Daily: [End-of-session checklist — what to review every day]

Weekly: [Sunday, __ minutes — what metrics, what questions]

Monthly: [First Sunday of month — full performance review]

Annual: [Date — full plan review and update]

After Writing Your Plan

1. 1Print it. Physical copies matter. Keep it at your trading station.
2. 2Share it. Show it to one person who will hold you accountable.
3. 3Review it before every session. Especially the risk rules section.
4. 4Update it. A plan is a living document. When something isn't working, update the plan — don't just deviate from it.

Your First 30 Days With the Plan

The first 30 days of following a new trading plan are the hardest — not because the rules are difficult, but because habitual behaviors conflict with new rules.

Track one metric above all others in the first 30 days: rule adherence rate (% of trades where you followed every aspect of your plan exactly).

If your rule adherence is below 70%, your plan has rules you can't follow in practice — either too many rules, rules too vague, or rules you haven't internalized. Simplify until your adherence is consistently above 80%.

A simple plan followed consistently outperforms a complex plan followed erratically every time.

In Tradapt: Upload your plan summary to your trading journal as a reference. Use the "pre-trade notes" field to confirm checklist completion before each entry. Your weekly AI review will identify plan adherence patterns automatically.