A journal template that survives a busy week
Four fields we ask intensive students to complete after a session — short enough to finish, specific enough to teach.
Long journals die on busy weeks. During the Volume & Price Action Intensive we use a four-field note that fits on half a page.
The four fields
Context. Market, timeframe, and whether you were in balance or in a swing before the decision.
Volume read. One sentence on participation: confirming, climaxing, drying up, or mixed.
Decision. Entered, skipped, or managed — and the price level that mattered.
Honesty check. What you wish you had noticed two bars earlier.
What we refuse to require
We do not demand screenshots of every tick, emotion scores out of ten, or multi-colour tagging systems. Those can help some traders; they also become reasons to skip the journal entirely. A short note you actually write beats an elaborate system you abandon.
Weekly review habit
Once a week, reread only the honesty-check lines. Patterns appear there faster than in P&L columns — especially the habit of ignoring dry volume on breakouts.