Building a Trading Plan & Strategy (Long-Term Success)
📍 Why a Trading Strategy Matters
A strategy gives you clear rules for when to enter, exit, and manage trades.
Without one, you’ll trade based on emotions—which is how retail traders blow accounts.
Professionals use structured approaches with backtested results, not random guesses.
📍 The Difference Between a Strategy and a Trading Plan
🔹 Strategy – The actual method you use to find trades. It includes things like indicators, price action, and market structure.
🔹 Plan – The execution framework for managing risk, psychology, and overall trade discipline.
📍 Key Components of a Winning Trading Plan
✅ Entry & Exit Criteria – You need exact rules for when to enter and exit, not just “this feels like a good trade.”
✅ Risk Management Rules – How much you risk per trade, max daily loss, stop-loss rules, etc.
✅ Trade Review Process – Track every trade, review wins/losses, and make data-driven improvements.
✅ Time & Session Preferences – Are you trading London open? New York session? Set clear rules.
📍 Dumb Money (Retail Traders) vs. Smart Money (Institutional Traders)
Retail traders jump from one idea to another, constantly chasing new strategies.
Smart Money sticks to a structured plan and refines it over time.
The biggest mistake? Trading without a plan and hoping for the best.
🔑 Key Takeaway:
If you don’t have a solid trading plan, you’re trading blind. Professionals don’t guess—they follow rules, manage risk, and execute with discipline. If you can’t do that, the market will take your money and hand it to those who can.