CRT Education · November 9, 2026 · 8 min read

How to Build a Trading Plan and Journal (and Run Trading Like a Business)

A step-by-step trading plan template, a CRT trading journal with the exact fields to log, a weekly review process, why mechanical rules beat discretion, and how to track trading as a business.

A trading plan is the written rulebook for how you trade: what, when, how much you risk, and what you do after wins and losses. A trading journal is the record that shows whether you followed it and whether it works. Together they turn trading from a string of separate decisions made under pressure into one process you can measure and improve. Most traders who fail don't lack a strategy; they lack structure.

This guide gives you a plan template you can copy, the exact fields I'd log in a CRT journal, a weekly review routine, and the business side: tracking costs, payouts and when to scale.

Why mechanical rules beat "feel"

A mechanical strategy is one where the rules decide, not your mood. The conditions for a trade are written down, and either they're all there or there's no trade.

That matters for three reasons:

• Consistency. Your emotions change every day. Written rules don't. The same chart gets the same decision whether you're up or down for the week.
• Testability. You can only find out whether something works if you do it the same way enough times to measure it. Discretionary trading changes every trade, so the results can't tell you anything.
• Less decision fatigue. Every unplanned decision costs energy. A plan makes most decisions before the session starts, so you have the focus left for the few that matter.

Discretion isn't useless. Experienced traders use judgement within their rules. But the rules come first, and judgement should only ever make you more selective, never less. That's the thinking behind Candle Range Theory as I teach it: a fixed model for the range, the sweep, the confirmation and the targets.

Building your trading plan: six sections

Write it down, ideally in a single page or two. If it's too long to reread before a session, it's too long.

1. Who you are as a trader

• Goal: specific and process-based. "Pass a $50,000 challenge while never breaking my daily loss rule" is a goal. "Make money" isn't.
• Style: scalper (minutes), day trader (hours) or swing trader (days). This decides your timeframes and how much screen time you need.
• Time available: which hours can you actually be at the screen, every day, without wrecking your sleep or job? That decides your session.

2. Strategy rules

Be specific enough that someone else could follow your plan and take the same trades.

• Markets: list them. Two or three, not ten. Beginners do well with one index (NQ, ES or US30) or EUR/USD and GBP/USD.
• Timeframes: for example, daily for bias, H4 or H1 for the CRT range, 5m or 1m for the entry. The multi-timeframe alignment guide covers the pairings.
• Entry checklist: every condition that must be true. A CRT version: 1. Daily bias is clear (from the previous day's candle). 2. A higher-timeframe range (Candle 1) is marked. 3. Price sweeps one side inside your killzone. 4. It closes back inside the range and shows a lower-timeframe CISD. 5. The entry is on an IFVG, purge order block or BPR. 6. The first target is at least 2R away. 7. No high-impact news within 30 minutes.
• Exit rules: stop beyond the sweep; partial profits at the 50%; the rest at the far side of the range; when you move to breakeven.

3. Risk rules

Write them in bold. Reread them before every session.

The reasoning and math behind each is in the risk management guide.

4. Session routine

Before (30 minutes): check the economic calendar; read the daily bias; mark the previous day's high, low and 50%, the session highs and lows, and the midnight open; write down what a valid setup would look like today; set alerts at the levels.

During (killzone only): wait for the alerts. When a setup forms, check it against your entry checklist line by line. Execute only if every box is ticked. Set the stop and targets right away, then don't stare at every tick.

After (15 minutes): screenshot each trade, write the journal entry, note how you felt, and close the platform.

5. Rules for good and bad streaks

• After a big win, the next trade is the same size, not bigger.
• After the daily limit is hit, the day is over, no exceptions.
• After a losing week, go back to replay or demo for a couple of sessions before going live again.

6. Review and update schedule

Weekly review every weekend. Plan updates monthly, and only based on data. Never change the plan because of one bad week; change it when several weeks of journal entries show the same pattern.

Your trading journal: what to log

A journal is the feedback loop. Without one, you keep paying for the same lessons.

The basic fields

The CRT fields

These are where the real learning comes from:

• What was the daily bias, and did the trade follow it?
• What was Candle 1 (timeframe and range)?
• Which liquidity got swept (PDL, Asia low, equal lows)?
• Was the sweep inside a killzone? Which one?
• Was price in premium or discount?
• What was the confirmation and the entry type?
• Did I follow every rule? Yes or no, and if no, which one.
• How did I feel before, during and after?
• What would I do differently?

Track "rule followed" separately from "won or lost". A rule-following loss is a good trade. A rule-breaking win is a bad trade that happened to work, and it's the most dangerous kind, because it teaches you to break rules.

Tools

You don't need anything fancy. A spreadsheet works. Notion is good for mixing screenshots and notes. Dedicated journal apps add analytics. A paper notebook works too if you're consistent. Consistency matters far more than the tool.

The weekly review

Spend 30 to 60 minutes every weekend:

1. Numbers: total trades, total R, average win and average loss in R, largest drawdown.
2. Rule compliance: what percentage of trades followed every rule? What caused the breaks?
3. Patterns: which setups, sessions and markets produced your best and worst trades?
4. Behaviour: any revenge trades, FOMO entries or early exits?
5. One focus for next week. Just one. "Wait for the CISD before entering" is a good one. "Be better" isn't.

After a few months, this review becomes the most valuable thing you own: a record of exactly what works for you.

Running trading like a business

Treat trading as a hobby and you'll get hobby results. A business has a plan, operating hours, a budget and accounts.

Track costs and revenue

Your trading business has costs: platform and data fees, indicators, education, prop firm challenge fees, and trading losses. It has revenue: profits and funded account payouts.

Tally both every month. A trader who withdrew $5,000 in payouts but spent $4,500 on challenges, resets and subscriptions has a $500 business, not a $5,000 one. Knowing the real number keeps you honest about whether to scale or to go back to practice.

Think like the owner

• You set the rules, and you follow them.
• When you break a rule, you take the rest of the day off.
• You invest in skills on purpose, not on impulse.
• You review the numbers weekly and decide based on data.
• You show up with a plan, not a hope.

Scale only when the numbers say so

For a prop trader, scaling usually means adding accounts: the same system and rules, multiplied. Do it slowly. Prove consistency on one account first, then add a second. Scaling too early just means losing faster. The prop firm challenge guide covers this step.

Get started this week

1. Copy the six-section plan above and fill it in. Keep it to two pages.
2. Set up a journal with the basic and CRT fields.
3. Trade (or replay) the week by the plan.
4. Do your first weekly review on the weekend.

If you're still learning the model itself, the CRT University lessons go in order, and the CRT Handbook gives you the full rules to build your plan around.

FAQ

What should a trading plan include?

Your goal and style, the markets and timeframes you trade, an entry checklist, exit rules, risk rules (per trade, daily and weekly limits), a session routine, and a review schedule.

What should I write in a trading journal?

The trade basics (time, market, direction, entry, stop, target, size, result in R), a screenshot, the setup details (bias, range, liquidity swept, killzone, confirmation), whether you followed every rule, and how you felt.

How often should I review my trading journal?

Weekly for patterns and rule compliance, and monthly when deciding whether to change anything in your plan.

Is a mechanical trading strategy better?

For most traders, yes, especially while learning. Fixed rules make your results consistent and testable, and they reduce emotional decisions. Judgement can be layered on later, but only to be more selective.

How do I treat trading like a business?

Write a plan, keep fixed hours, track every cost and every payout monthly, review your numbers weekly, and only scale when the data shows consistency.

Education only, not financial advice. Trading involves substantial risk of loss.