Timing / The FlowState process

Trade journaling: review the decision, not just the P&L.

A journal is useful when it connects what you planned, what you actually did, and what you learned.

What you’ll learn

Record the decision well enough to review it without hindsight.

Understand the concept.

Before the trade

Record the setup, important level, trigger, invalidation, intended risk, and what would make you pass.

During the trade

Note material changes: an add, trim, thesis change, or decision that did not follow the original plan.

How I use it.

I want the journal to preserve what the plan said before the outcome was known. Record direction, location, trigger, invalidation, vehicle, and intended risk. Afterward, compare the action with the plan. Profit and loss matter, but they do not by themselves explain whether the process was followed.

Put it into context.

The fictional What changed cards demonstrate a comparison of daily and weekly candles using invented figures. In the desk, these comparisons can help identify what changed in price or momentum between reviews. They are not a trade journal and do not record your entries or exits. Pair a dated screenshot from your own review with notes about the decision you made at that time.

Fictional SAMPLE daily and weekly change cards: invented price changes of $2.40 and $3.60, and Pulse increases of 4.0 and 3.1 points. — Illustration only. SAMPLE is fictional; all prices, indicators, and comparison figures are invented for teaching. No real ticker or provider data is shown. View full size ↗

Period · Daily or weekly

The cards demonstrate different intervals. Compare each with its own prior demo candle.

Change · Price and Pulse

Read the units: price dollars and percent are different from Pulse points.

Event · Structure or momentum

A flagged change is a prompt to review the chart. It is not a completed trade plan.

Go deeper Details & practice

A short journal entry

Setup: what made the chart relevant? Trigger: what had to happen? Invalidation: what would cancel the thesis? Execution: what did I actually do? Review: did I follow the plan, and what should I change?

One improvement at a time

Look across comparable trades for repeated behaviors. Choose one specific adjustment to review next time, such as documenting invalidation before entry, rather than changing the whole approach after a loss.

04 / From lesson to workspace

See the pieces together.

Open What changed to examine the framework in the desk’s dated snapshots. Apply the questions from this lesson to what you see.

Explore this process in The Flowstate Desk

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Educational examples only. No entry, outcome, or return is promised. Trading involves risk; saved snapshots are not live execution data.

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