A trading plan is written before the trade, not during it. For each trade, note why you are entering, where you get in, where you take profit and where you admit you were wrong.
Opportunities that genuinely match your plan are rarer than the market makes them feel. Waiting for one is part of the job, not a failure to act.
Every unplanned trade adds spread costs and emotional pressure without adding any real edge.
After a loss, there is a strong urge to win the money back quickly, usually by trading bigger and faster. That is revenge trading, and it turns one planned loss into several unplanned ones.
Markets don't close, but they do go quiet: around holidays, late at night and between trading sessions. With fewer participants, spreads widen and price can jump on small orders.
Moves in these hours are less reliable, so many traders simply stay out.
Consistency comes from repeating the same steps every session until good decisions become automatic.
You have covered the rules of the arena: how price forms, how orders work, who you trade against and what every trade really costs. Next, the markets themselves.
