The ‘Traders Mind Journal’ has evolved as a result of a collaboration between two people – Steve Ward, a trading performance coach, and Simon Cotterill a fund manager - who have a shared belief firstly, that trading psychology is a fundamental component of trading performance,  and secondly that keeping a trading journal is extremely valuable in helping traders to stay disciplined and focused, and to navigate the ups and downs of trading effectively, and to improve their trading performance.

The ‘Traders Mind Journal’ is not a traditional trading log - a place to record the trades you made, entries, exits and pips accumulated – but rather a trading journal focused on the psychological components of trading, helping you to prepare mentally and emotionally for the trading day ahead, reflect on your trading decisions, to manage your thoughts and emotions, and to gain insights about your trading behaviour that can be turned into concrete actions and goals that ultimately enhance your performance.

Most traders will have been told that keeping a journal is important, and have probably kept a trading journal in some form or other at some time - and then stopped. Sometimes this is because journals are seen as a ‘tool’ only for beginner traders or, perhaps for traders going through a tough time. For some the journaling process stops because the journal is too complicated and time-consuming, for others it is because it has not been structured well, and does not provide valuable insights, or encourage the taking of action, that can lead to tangible improvements in performance. For some the reality may be that it is simply a lack of commitment to trading at their best that stops them from keeping a trading journal.

We believe that a good trading journal is essential to your ongoing learning as a trader, to the pursuit of mastery of yourself and the markets, and to trading at your best, no matter what your level of experience or success.

Our goal in creating the ‘Traders Mind Journal’ is to provide a time efficient, engaging and valuable journaling process, that will help traders to develop their trading psychology and improve their trading performance.

The 8 key factors of trading performance - Simon Cotterill and Steve Ward