Succeed as a trader in 2025! The ultimate end of year review process - #244

Traders Improved Trading Podcast

Copy and paste the end-oy-year review template below and use it in your own review process:

Step-by-Step End-of-Year Review for Traders

1. Performance Review

• Metrics to Assess:
  • 5 – 10 largest winners and largest losers.
  • Most and least profitable confluence factor.
  • Identify periods of strong performance and underperformance.
  • Maximum drawdown and recovery time.
  • Consistency: % of following trading plan.
• Strategy Review:
  • Which strategies worked well? Which underperformed?
  • Evaluate trades that deviated from your plan.
  • Impact and reasons for missing trades.
• Psychological Performance:
  • Reflect on emotional challenges (e.g., fear, greed, overtrading).
  • Identify patterns that impacted decision-making.
  • Identify the 3 biggest performance killers.
  • Note emotional triggers and psychological tendencies.
• Document Key Takeaways:
  • Best trades: What worked well and why?
  • Worst trades: What lessons can you learn?
  • Missed trades: Why did you avoid them?
  • Opportunities: What do you want to improve next year?

2. Risk Management Audit

• Assess Risk Rules:
  • Review position sizing, stop-loss placement, and overall risk exposure.
• Update Your Risk Management Plan:
  • Adjust risk tolerance based on results and future goals.
  • Audit your reward/risk ratio vs. the impact of trade management.
• Review Your Drawdowns:
  • Identify causes of large drawdowns.
  • Find your largest negative outlier.
  • Create steps to minimize them next year.

3. Update Your Trading Business Plan

• Reflect on how well you are set up in the first place.
• Do you find yourself wondering during your trading and unsure what to do in specific situations? Do you feel you have a lot of inconsistencies and noise in your trading? A good trading business plan will plug those wholes and provide guidance in your trading.
• Your business plan should include:
  • All trading rules.
  • Timeframes and assets you are following.
  • Risk management principles.
  • Trade management and drawdown rules.
  • Guidelines for dealing with news events and adjustments.

4. Review Lifestyle and Health

• Trading performance is tied to mental and physical health:
  • Reflect on your work-life balance.
  • Prioritize sleep, exercise, and mental well-being.
• Plan time off or breaks to recharge and avoid burnout.

5. Goal Setting for Next Year

• Behavioral Goals:
  • Focus on consistency, risk management, or reducing emotional mistakes.
  • Example: “I will not risk more than 2% per trade.”, “I will stop managing my trades.”, or “I will walk away from my screen after two losses in a row.”
• Skill Development:
  • Identify areas for improvement (e.g., technical analysis, trading psychology, backtesting, journaling, etc.).
  • Commit to educational activities like courses, books, or coaching.
• Process-Oriented Goals:
  • Focus on actions you can control:
    • Preparing your charts daily.
    • Sticking to your trading plan.
    • Journaling daily trades.
    • Following your risk management rules.

6. Celebrate and Reflect

• Celebrate progress and achievements:
  • Acknowledge lessons learned, growth, and resilience.
• Maintain a positive outlook:
  • Focus on the process rather than short-term results.

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Disclaimer: The experience reports and comments constitute the personal experiences of our users. These are individual results that do not permit conclusions to be drawn about future developments. In particular, we make no claim that these are typical results that can be achieved by our users on a regular basis. Tradeciety can neither predict nor guarantee the occurrence of certain developments or the achievement of profits, nor will it do so.

Results may not be typical and may vary from person to person. There are inherent risks involved with investing and trading, including the loss of your investment. Past performance in the market is not indicative of future results. Any investment is at your own risk.