How to Write a Trading Plan You Actually Follow
How to Write a Trading Plan You Actually Follow
Most trading plans are written, read once, and abandoned. Not because the plan is wrong — because it is too complicated, too aspirational, or too vague to survive a Tuesday afternoon.
The plan you actually follow is short, specific, and mechanical.
The minimum viable plan (one page)
1. Universe
The exact instruments you will trade. Named. Not “large-cap stocks”. Not “high-volume options”. A list of specific tickers you know well.
2. Setup criteria
The exact conditions that constitute a valid setup. Specific and testable. If a stranger reading your plan cannot identify a setup on your chart, the plan is too vague.
3. Entry rules
Where you enter, how (limit vs market), and the maximum acceptable slippage from the intended level.
4. Stop rules
Where the stop lives — pegged to structure, not to your entry price. Written before the trade opens.
5. Target rules
The pre-committed exit level(s). Half at 1R, half at 2R? Full at target? Trailing stop after 1R? Written down.
6. Position size
A fixed percentage of account risked per trade. Not a “feel” number.
7. Session rules
Trading window (start and end times). Maximum trades per session. Cool-down after a loss above threshold. Screen-break rules.
8. Journal fields
The specific fields you commit to filling in for every trade — thesis, counter-argument, invalidation, emotional state.
What NOT to put in the plan
- Aspirational targets (“I will be profitable this month”). Not a rule, not enforceable.
- Complex conditional logic (“if VIX above 25 and RSI…”). If you cannot execute it under stress, it will not happen.
- Multiple strategies. Focus. A one-strategy plan you follow beats a five-strategy plan you do not.
The follow-through
The plan lives at the top of your screen. Not in a folder. Not in a note. On the trading surface, visible, always. Reviewed at the start of every session.
Every week, you audit which rules you actually followed. Any rule you break more than twice needs to be either tightened (until it holds) or relaxed (because it is wrong).
How EI ALGOS helps
The Decision Score is a six-factor pre-trade check that structurally enforces the fields above — you cannot open a trade without stating thesis, structure, risk, and invalidation. See also Trading Journal.
EI ALGOS is an educational decision-support platform. Nothing in this article is investment advice.
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