Process and psychology
Recording trades and watching progress
Monitoring progress toward a goal improves reaching it, most when it is written down or shared.
Well documented
Found repeatedly in peer-reviewed work or regulator data.
General goal research supports monitoring. No trader-specific test was found.
What it is
A review of 138 studies (about 20,000 participants) found a moderate effect of monitoring goal progress, larger when progress was recorded or made public.
What it suggests
No study of trading journals was found, and claims that journaling raises returns by a specific percentage came only from vendor blogs.
How to check it
Record the plan's rules for each trade, whether they were kept, and what happened, then review on a schedule.
Common mistakes
- Recording without reviewing.
Sources
- Harkin et al. (2016), Does monitoring goal progress promote goal attainment? Psychological Bulletin 142 (138 studies) (citation and headline finding only)
Related lessons
Written in our own words. Education only, not financial advice.