Trading Plan Template: The 7 Rules to Write Before You Trade
A practical trading plan template covering market, setup, entry, stop, size, exit, and review rules for paper-trading practice.
· 6 min read · trading-plan, discipline, risk, checklist
Direct answer
A practical trading plan template covering market, setup, entry, stop, size, exit, and review rules for paper-trading practice. The practical rule is: A usable plan must define market, setup, schedule, risk unit, entry, invalidation, exit, and review cadence before the first chart is opened. Use the rule before the next candle is visible, then review the process separately from the outcome.
OCA's original contribution
OCA's contribution is a pre-reveal rule and drill specific to this lesson: A usable plan must define market, setup, schedule, risk unit, entry, invalidation, exit, and review cadence before the first chart is opened. The learner then records: Complete every field for one setup, run it unchanged for 20 samples, and revise only the field supported by the journal.
Search job
Help a learner use Trading Plan Template: The 7 Rules to Write Before You Trade as a repeatable chart decision instead of a memorized definition.
Evidence-led exercise
Trading Plan Template: The 7 Rules to Write Before You Trade: a decision made before the reveal
This is an educational decision scenario, not a claim of historical performance. It applies Trading Plan Template: The 7 Rules to Write Before You Trade with future candles hidden: write the observation, invalidation, and action before checking what happened next.
- Observation 1 — A trading plan turns vague confidence into written entry, stop, size, and exit rules. Treat this as information available before the reveal, not an explanation added after seeing the outcome.
- Observation 2 — The best plan is short enough to use before every trade and strict enough to reject bad setups. Treat this as information available before the reveal, not an explanation added after seeing the outcome.
- Observation 3 — Review rules matter as much as entry rules because they turn mistakes into training data. Treat this as information available before the reveal, not an explanation added after seeing the outcome.
Decision rule: A usable plan must define market, setup, schedule, risk unit, entry, invalidation, exit, and review cadence before the first chart is opened. Execution is limited to this drill: Complete every field for one setup, run it unchanged for 20 samples, and revise only the field supported by the journal. The review scores repeatability, not whether a single candle happened to agree.
Limitation: Trading Plan Template: The 7 Rules to Write Before You Trade cannot predict direction or profit on its own. Instrument, time frame, liquidity, volatility, and costs can change the meaning of the same observation, and loss remains possible.
Data note: Data note: any numbers are illustrative, not performance statistics. Chart drills use randomized historical OHLCV windows supplied in OCA.
Trading Plan Template: The 7 Rules to Write Before You Trade execution order
- A trading plan turns vague confidence into written entry, stop, size, and exit rules.
- The best plan is short enough to use before every trade and strict enough to reject bad setups.
- A usable plan must define market, setup, schedule, risk unit, entry, invalidation, exit, and review cadence before the first chart is opened.
- Complete every field for one setup, run it unchanged for 20 samples, and revise only the field supported by the journal.
Most common misread
- Write a market outlook but omit position and review rules.
- Turn the document into an operating checklist that can produce a pass.
- Treat one correct outcome as proof of skill.
- Review at least 20 logged decisions for consistent rule use.
Sources and methodology
Trading Rules Template · Trading Journal Template · Practice this decision with future candles hidden
One-minute candle practice
Choose UP or DOWN before revealing the outcome.
Price left a long upper wick near resistance. Will the next candle close UP or DOWN?
Five context candles
- Candle 1: open 78, high 81, low 77, close 80
- Candle 2: open 80, high 84, low 79, close 83
- Candle 3: open 83, high 86, low 82, close 85
- Candle 4: open 85, high 88, low 84, close 86
- Candle 5: open 86, high 91, low 84, close 85
Enable JavaScript to choose a direction and reveal the outcome candle interactively.
Outcome explanation: The long upper wick showed that buyers failed to hold the high. The hidden candle closed below its open, so DOWN was correct in this fixed scenario.
This fixed historical-style educational example does not predict or guarantee live-market outcomes or returns.
A trading plan is a written decision system for one trade type. It defines what you trade, what setup qualifies, where you enter, where you are wrong, how much you risk, how you exit, and how you review the result. Without that written boundary, every chart starts to look tradable.
The 7-rule template
Write the plan as rules, not wishes. A useful template is: market, time frame, setup, entry trigger, invalidation, position size, and exit plan. If any line is blank, the trade is not ready.
- Market: stocks, crypto, or one watchlist only.
- Time frame: the chart you judge and the chart you execute.
- Setup: trend pullback, breakout retest, range fade, or another named pattern.
- Invalidation: the price action that proves the idea wrong.
- Size: risk dollars first, position units second.
Good plans reject trades
Three-node practice loop: predict the next candle, reveal the outcome, journal the lesson — then repeat.
The plan is doing its job when it says no. If the stop is too wide, the volume is weak, the level is untested, or the candle closes back inside the range, the answer is no trade. A rejected trade is not missed profit; it is protected attention.
Use the plan inside the simulator
In One Candle Ahead, choose one setup and run 30 reps before changing rules. For every rep, write the reason before revealing the next candle. The goal is not to win every candle; the goal is to learn whether the rule produces repeatable decisions.
Test a trading plan on real candles →
This guide is maintained by the Studio Solum Editorial Team and may use AI tools for structure and language editing. Sources, assumptions, and limitations are disclosed; only changes that complete publisher review receive a separate Reviewed date.
Frequently asked questions
Can Trading Plan Template: The 7 Rules to Write Before You Trade be used as a standalone trade signal?
No. Use it as one piece of evidence inside a written plan that includes context, invalidation, position risk, and costs. The article's drill deliberately scores process before outcome so one lucky result is not confused with a durable edge.
How should a beginner practice this lesson?
Hide future candles, write the rule before acting, and complete this task: Complete every field for one setup, run it unchanged for 20 samples, and revise only the field supported by the journal. Keep at least 20 samples, including passes and mistakes, before changing the rule.