What to Fix in Your Trading Process Before 2026I’ve been stopped out more than 300 times.
After years of trial, error, and reflection, I realized there was one thing missing from my process.
If I had understood and fixed it earlier, I would have become profitable much sooner.
It’s probably very simple to you.
And I’m confident that around 90% of traders either don’t do it at all — or do it incorrectly.
That skill is scenario writing.
It doesn’t matter whether you’ve been in the market for one year or three.
Writing scenarios before the trade can significantly improve your win rate.
Let me explain how.
Imagine your trading day has started.
You’re analyzing the market when suddenly a symbol begins to move with strong momentum.
Your mind says: “This fits my strategy. I should enter.”
Your emotions say: “Wait for a pullback — you’ll get a better price.”
Then another thought appears: “What if this trade covers a year’s profit?”
Logic, FOMO, and dozens of parameters start competing.
The result is usually a position with much lower quality than what your strategy actually requires.
Now imagine a second trader.
The day before, they wrote down all possible scenarios and the exact actions required for each one.
When momentum appears and resistance breaks, they enter immediately — without hesitation.
Not because they are emotionless, but because the plan already exists.
Nothing is surprising.
Nothing feels urgent.
Emotions play a minimal role because the decisions were made in advance.
I believe many of you have experienced the first situation.
So let’s look at how scenario writing should actually be done.
I’ve prepared a simple template you can copy directly into Notion.
Duplicate it daily and use it for every pair you analyze.
At first, it may feel difficult.
It might even take hours.
But after one month of consistent use, analyzing a symbol will often take less than seven minutes.
If you’ve followed my daily analyses, this structure may already feel familiar — because all my analysis is built around clear triggers, scenarios, and defined risk.
⚙️ Trading Scenario Journal Template
🧩 Structure Overview
Each position should have six sections:
Start (Setup & Entry Logic)
End (Exit & Contingency)
Actors (Market Elements)
Storyline (Expected Path)
Mid-Scenarios (Adjustments)
Goal (Purpose & Awareness)
1. Start – Setup & Entry Logic
Market Direction: Uptrend / Downtrend / Range (Weekly / Daily / 4H)
Entry Trigger: What confirms the entry (e.g., break & retest, candle pattern, volume)
Alternative Conditions: Valid setups if the main trigger fails
🗝 Only trade within the defined structure — no guessing.
2. End – Exit Logic & Contingencies
Exit Trigger: Where and why the position will be closed
If the Trigger Never Happens: Wait, cancel, or partially close
Profit Management: When to secure profit or move stop to break-even
🗝 Every “if–then” must be decided before the market forces you to act.
3. Actors – Key Market Factors
Each element either supports or weakens the setup:
Candles (strength, volatility, dominance)
Volume (confirmation or rejection)
RSI (momentum or exhaustion)
DMI / ADX (trend and volatility strength)
Support & Resistance (decision zones)
Trendlines / Channels (structural bias)
P.S: These are my personal trading plan confirmations; you need to define your own
🗝 Align at least three confirmations.
4. Storyline – Expected Path
Write the ideal “movie” of price behavior.
Example:
“Pullback to 66.4k → rejection → retest → continuation to 68k.”
If the story does not unfold, there is no trade.
🗝 You don’t predict. You prepare.
5. Mid-Scenarios – Management Adjustments
All reactions are pre-defined, not emotional:
Add if structure breaks with volume
Reduce if momentum fades or divergence appears
Exit early if volatility disappears or major news hits
Avoid adding if RSI is already overextended
🗝 Responses are designed mathematically, not emotionally.
6. Goal – Purpose of the Trade
Core Goal: Why this trade exists (continuation, test, reversal)
Expected Learning: What this trade should teach you — even if it loses
“If something unexpected happens, it means the scenario wasn’t fully planned.
Next time, it gets written down.”
If you stop writing scenarios by day seven, understand this clearly:
You are not supposed to be profitable yet.
Trading is not a comfort skill.
And this environment is not designed for comfort.
It requires structure, discipline, and emotional control.
If journaling, scenario writing, and structured analysis feel unbearable, quitting early is actually more honest than pretending.
By the way — I’m Skeptic , founder of Skeptic Lab .
I focus on long-term performance through psychology, data-driven thinking, and tested processes.
If this was useful, feel free to support it.
If you know a trader struggling with the same issue, share it — growing together is one of the most human experiences we have.
And if you have your own insights, leave them in the comments.
Let’s learn from each other.
— Skeptic
