Trading Checklist: 10 Questions Before You Enter
A compact pre-entry trading checklist covering trend, level, trigger, stop, size, reward, volatility, news, and review.
· 5 min read · checklist, discipline, entry, risk
A trading checklist is a friction device. It slows the impulsive click long enough for your plan to speak. The checklist should not predict the market; it should confirm that your trade is planned, sized, and reviewable.
The 10 questions
Three-node practice loop: predict the next candle, reveal the outcome, journal the lesson — then repeat.
Use these before entry. If the answer is unclear, skip or reduce risk. A skipped trade is data too.
- What is the higher-timeframe bias?
- What exact setup am I trading?
- Where is the level or zone?
- What candle or trigger confirms entry?
- Where is the stop and why?
- What is the position size?
- Is the target realistic?
- Is volatility normal or expanded?
- Is there news or an event risk?
- What will I record after the trade?
Keep one red-line rule
One rule should instantly cancel the trade: no stop, no trade. Other rules can be graded, but a missing invalidation point means risk is undefined.
Review failed checklists
When you skip a trade, record why. Later, check whether the skip rule protected you or was too restrictive. This turns non-trades into useful training examples.