5 Common Trading Journal Mistakes and How to Fix Them
Keeping a trading journal is like having a personal coach in your corner—it helps you spot patterns, refine strategies, and stay disciplined. But if your journal is messy or incomplete, it’s just a time-waster.
At FX Bullsheet, after working with thousands of traders, we’ve seen the same mistakes crop up time and time again. Here are the top 5 trading journal mistakes—and exactly how to fix them to level up your trading game.
1️⃣ Incomplete Data: Missing the Full Picture
The Mistake:
You jot down your entry and exit prices but skip key details like stop-loss, take-profit, or the reason for the trade. Without these, your journal tells only half the story.
The Fix:
Create a consistent template that covers all critical trade details. At a minimum, include:
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Entry and exit prices
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Position size and risk percentage
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Stop-loss and take-profit levels
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Market conditions (e.g., trending, ranging)
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The reason for taking the trade (e.g., technical setup, news event)
Pro Tip:
FX Bullsheet’s journal prompts you to fill in all the essential data points—so nothing gets overlooked. Our built-in trade entry form ensures your journal is always complete and actionable.
2️⃣ Ignoring Emotional Context: Trading Isn’t Just Numbers
The Mistake:
You focus on price and profit but ignore how you felt during the trade. Were you anxious? Overconfident? Emotional states massively impact your decision-making—and skipping them means you’re missing valuable insight.
The Fix:
Add a “mood check” to every journal entry. After each trade, write a quick note on your emotional state (e.g., “Felt anxious after a losing streak”). Over time, you’ll uncover psychological patterns like revenge trading or hesitation.
Pro Tip:
FX Bullsheet’s journal includes an optional “emotion” field and even AI-driven reports that highlight emotional triggers in your trading history. We make it visual too—charting your mindset alongside your performance.
3️⃣ Not Reviewing Entries: Collecting Dust, Not Insights
The Mistake:
You log trades but never look back. A journal is only useful if you analyze it regularly.
The Fix:
Block 15 minutes each week to review your trades. Look for:
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Recurring mistakes (like moving stops or overtrading)
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Strategies with the highest win rates
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Market conditions or times of day that suit you best
Pro Tip:
FX Bullsheet’s dynamic charts make reviews a breeze, visualizing your performance in seconds. Plus, our personalized AI monthly report tells you how you did—no manual digging required.
Want a deeper dive? Our automatic “Trade Replay” feature lets you revisit each trade step by step, showing you TradingView charts of your trade and personalised AI feedback on what went well (or didn’t) for every single trade. We even give you suggestions on how you could’ve improved the trade.
4️⃣ Overcomplicating the Journal: Analysis Paralysis
The Mistake:
You track everything under the sun—Fibonacci levels, RSI, lunar phases—and end up overwhelmed.
The Fix:
Keep it simple. Focus on 5-7 key metrics that truly matter to your strategy (like win/loss ratio, risk-reward, and setup type). Your journal should be quick to update and easy to learn from.
Pro Tip:
With FX Bullsheet, you choose what to track—no more clutter. Keep it lean so journaling takes less than a minute per trade, yet still delivers deep insight.
5️⃣ No Connection to Your Trading Plan: Journaling in a Vacuum
The Mistake:
Your journal doesn’t reflect your trading plan. It becomes a random collection of trades rather than a tool for accountability.
The Fix:
Before every session, review your plan’s key rules (e.g., “Only trade pin bars on daily charts”). Log whether each trade followed your plan—and if it didn’t, why not? This builds powerful self-awareness.
Pro Tip:
FX Bullsheet lets you tag trades by strategy and even rate your compliance with a pop up weighted checklist before submitting a trade to your journal. Get a score that tells you exactly how closely each trade matched your plan—no guesswork.
Bonus: The Power of Backtesting
A journal helps you analyze your past—but backtesting helps you shape your future. FX Bullsheet isn’t just a journal—it’s a full backtesting platform, like FX Replay but at a fraction of the cost.
With our integrated TradingView charts, you can:
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Set up trades using the long/short tool
- Instant estimated profit / loss when setting up a trade so you can tailor lot size and risk %.
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Track real-time unrealized & realized PnL
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Use trailing stops, auto break-even, partial take profit and automatic take-profits / stop losses.
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Simulate real-world trading with precision
- Easy to use playback controls.
In other words, you can practice like you play—and sharpen your edge faster. What’s more we even have a backtesting analytic page where you can compare your strategies, currency pairs and get AI insights into your backtesting sessions.
Take Action: Level Up Your Journal Today
A great trading journal isn’t about perfection—it’s about consistency and clarity. Pick just one of these fixes to implement this week and watch how your trading evolves.
Better yet, try FX Bullsheet’s free trial and experience how effortless journaling can be—with real-time P&L tracking, AI-driven insights, and deep TradingView integration.
👉 [sign up for FX Bullsheet today] to transform your trading for good, use code ‘WELCOME5’ to get your first month for just $5! Invest in solid trading tools like FX Bullsheet and watch your profits grow!
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