Pretty Profitable · Cohort Lesson

Creating a
Trade Plan

The difference between a trader and a gambler is a written plan. Let's build yours, gworl.

the Pretty Profitable way
i.

What Is a Trade Plan?

A structured guide that outlines your approach to trading, helping you make decisions based on clear goals, strategies, and risk management.

  • Purpose. Keeps you focused, reduces emotional decisions, and helps you achieve consistency.
  • Components. Goals, risk tolerance, strategy, routine, and ongoing evaluation.
  • Benefits. Discipline. Confidence. A clear process for every trade.
ii.

Why You Need One.

A plan is the roadmap that keeps you on track when the market gets messy. It is the difference between intention and reaction.

  • Structure. Disciplined, consistent trading instead of vibes-based entries.
  • Protection. Manages risk and pulls you out of emotional, impulsive trades.
  • Clarity. Guides you through every market condition, every session, every setup.
The Framework

The Seven Steps

Every step is non-negotiable. Skip one, and the plan stops protecting you.

01
Step One

Define Your Trading Goals

Goals keep you motivated and focused. Without a target, every trade is a wandering shot.

  • Financial goals. Set clear, measurable targets. Example: I aim to grow my account by 5% monthly.
  • Learning goals. If you are new, your first goal is experience and skill, not profit.
  • Set a timeframe. Short-term (weeks), medium-term (months), long-term (years). Track everything.
02
Step Two

Determine Your Risk Tolerance

Understand how much risk you can actually handle. Your strategy is built on top of this number.

  • Risk comfort. Are you a high-risk, high-reward trader, or do you want lower-risk, more stable returns?
  • Risk limit per trade. The general rule: risk no more than 1 to 2% of your account on a single trade.
  • Stop-loss level. Set an exit level before you ever enter. Cap the loss before it caps you.
03
Step Three

Choose Your Market & Instruments

Specialization beats spreading thin. The trader who masters one instrument outperforms the one who dabbles in five.

  • Markets to consider. For us, it is Nasdaq futures (NQ/MNQ). Commodities, financial futures, and currency futures are also options.
  • Keep it simple. Start with one or two instruments. Learn how they breathe before adding more.
  • Know your contract. Tick value, margin, liquidity hours. Know what you are trading down to the dollar per tick.
04
Step Four

Develop Your Trading Strategy

Your strategy is the engine. Entry, exit, risk-reward. Defined before the bell, not improvised at the screen.

  • Entry criteria. Specific conditions you require before a trade exists. Zone tap, rejection candle, CHOCH, key candle break.
  • Exit criteria. Predefined target and stop. You do not move stops. You do not pray.
  • Risk-reward ratio. Aim for a balanced ratio like 1:2 (or 1:1 mechanical for prop firms). Either way, it is decided in advance.
05
Step Five

Establish a Daily Routine

Routine is what makes consistency possible. Same prep, same window, same review, every single day.

  • Pre-market analysis. Mark your zones, check the economic calendar, set your bias and key levels before the open.
  • Active trading hours. Define your window. Ours is 9:00 to 10:30 AM EST. Outside the window, you are a spectator.
  • Post-market review. Every trade gets reviewed. Wins and losses both. The chart never lies, the journal won't either.
06
Step Six

Record & Review Your Trades

A journal is the difference between repeating mistakes and building an edge. This is where consistency is actually born.

  • Record details. Entry, exit, reason for the trade, screenshot, emotional state, and outcome.
  • Performance analysis. Review weekly. Find the patterns in your wins. Find the leak in your losses.
  • Adjust your strategy. The data tells you what to keep, what to cut, and what to refine. Let it.
07
Step Seven

Plan for Continuous Learning

The market evolves. Your plan should too. The trader who stops learning stops winning.

  • Stay updated. Financial news, our community, books, replays. Your inputs shape your outputs.
  • Practice. Demo or eval account for testing new ideas. Never risk live capital on something untested.
  • Review and adapt. Revisit your plan monthly. Update it as your skill grows and the market changes.
A Reference

An Example Trade Plan

This is what a complete plan looks like on paper. Use it as a template, not a copy.

Trade Plan · Sample
The Patient Day Trader
Goal
Grow account by 5% per month over the next 6 months. Build a 60% win rate with disciplined execution.
Risk Tolerance
Risk 1% of account per trade. Maximum 2 trades per session. Hard stop at 2% daily loss.
Market
MNQ (Micro Nasdaq Futures). One instrument until consistency is proven.
Strategy
Day Trading (The Foundation). Higher-timeframe zones from Daily down to 15M, executed on the 1-minute. Entry on rejection candle at zone, stop past wick.
Risk : Reward
Minimum 1:2. Targets are predefined at the next opposing zone. No moving stops.
Session
9:00 to 10:30 AM EST, Monday through Thursday. No trading on Fridays.
Routine
Pre-market: zones marked by 8:30 AM. Post-market: journal every trade with screenshot by 11:00 AM.
Review
Weekly review every Friday afternoon. Monthly plan adjustment on the 1st of each month.
Your Turn

Build Your Trade Plan

Answer the questions below. We will draft your personalized plan in real time, then you make it yours.

The Pretty Profitable Plan Builder

Take your time. Be honest. Your plan is only as good as your inputs.

01.

First name only. This will live at the top of your plan.

02.

Pick the one that matters most. You can chase the others later.

03.

Use your live or eval account. If demo, enter the demo balance.

04.

Be real with yourself. The rule of thumb is 1 to 2%, no more.

05.

Master ONE first. You can add a second after 30 days of consistency.

06.

Define your window. Outside the window, you do not exist in the market.

07.

Select all that apply. Many of us skip Fridays. Know your days.

08.

Quality over quantity. Most consistent traders take 1 to 3 setups daily.

09.

When do you walk away? This is a hard line, not a suggestion.

10.

A percentage of your account. Realistic ranges are 3 to 10% per month.

11.

This shapes the language and expectations in your generated plan.

12.

The honest answer. This becomes a personal rule in your plan.

13.

Anything specific you want pinned to your plan. You can always edit this later.

Part Two · The Personal Layer

Now Let's Make It Yours

The numbers are set. These questions shape the soul of your plan: your why, your identity, your protocols. Answer like you mean it.

A. Why do you trade? What is the bigger picture?

This is your North Star. The answer that pulls you back to the plan when you want to break it. Be specific. Vague whys do not survive losing days.

Try this format I trade because [the life I want] requires [a thing trading provides], and I want [specific outcome] for [specific people, including yourself]. Example: "I trade because I want my mom to retire by 60 and because I want to never need permission to take a Tuesday off again."
B. Who are you as a trader? Describe yourself in 2 to 3 sentences.

Identity drives behavior. If you say "I am a disciplined trader," your brain looks for evidence to prove it. Write the trader you are becoming, in present tense.

Example "I am a patient day trader who waits for A+ setups. I follow my plan with surgical precision and journal every trade. I treat trading like a business, not a hobby."
C. What does success look like for you, 12 months from today?

Be specific. A number, a milestone, a habit, an account size, a feeling. The more concrete, the easier it is to track.

Example "12 months from today: $100K personal account, two funded prop accounts, 60%+ win rate, and I have not missed a single weekly review. I trade 9 to 10:30 AM and the rest of the day is mine."
D. What is your exact protocol after a losing trade?

Be detailed. Step-by-step. What do you do in the first 60 seconds, the first 15 minutes, the next trade. Most traders die on the trade after the loss. Plan it now while you are calm.

Example "Step 1: stand up, walk away from the desk for 10 minutes. Step 2: write the loss in the journal honestly. Step 3: re-mark zones. Step 4: only re-enter if there is a clean A+ setup. Step 5: if I take a second loss, I am done for the day. No third trade ever."
E. What is your protocol after a winning trade?

Wins kill traders just as fast as losses. The post-win cocky size-up. The "I'm hot today" extra trade. Plan how you handle being right.

Example "Take the win. Do not size up. Do not chase a second setup just because I won the first. Journal the win the same way I journal a loss. Close the platform if I have hit my trade max."
F. When are you NOT allowed to trade? Be specific.

Tired. Sick. Emotional. Right before a flight. Right after an argument. List the conditions where the answer is automatic NO, regardless of how good the setup looks.

Example "I do not trade if: I have less than 6 hours of sleep, if I am sick, if I have had alcohol in the last 12 hours, if I have not done my pre-market prep, if I am traveling, or if I am emotionally activated about something outside of trading."
G. Write your trading affirmation. The one you read every morning.

First person. Present tense. Strong but not arrogant. This is what you say out loud before the open. Think mantra, not motivation poster.

Example "I am a patient, disciplined trader. I follow my plan. The market does not owe me anything and I do not owe the market anything. I take only A+ setups. I am building wealth, one trade at a time."
H. Who is your accountability partner? How will you stay accountable?

A name. A cadence. What you share with them. If you have not picked one yet, write what you are looking for. Cohort sister, journal-only, or partner check-ins all count.

Example "Partner: [Name]. Weekly Friday voice memos with my win rate, biggest lesson, and one rule I broke if any. We swap journals on the 1st of every month."
I. Your top 3 hard rules. Non-negotiable. The ones you would tattoo on yourself.

Of all the rules in your plan, which 3 are the most important? The ones you protect at all costs. List them in order of importance.

Example "1. I never move my stop loss in the wrong direction. 2. I never trade outside my 9 to 10:30 window. 3. I never take more than 2 trades a day, ever."
J. Anything else you want pinned to your plan?

Personal commitments. Faith routines. Family rules. Specific habits. Anything that makes this plan yours and not someone else's.

Example "Pray before the open. No trading on the kids' birthdays. Tea, not coffee, before the bell. Phone in the other room during session."
i
This is your draft. Every section is editable. Click any field to rewrite it in your own words. Your plan saves automatically as you type.
Pretty Profitable · Trade Plan
01. Identity & Mission click any field to edit
Why you trade, who you are as a trader, and what success looks like for you.
My Why
Trader Identity
Definition of Success
02. Goals & Timeframes
Short, medium, and long-term targets. Specific. Measurable. Reviewed.
Primary Goal
Monthly Target
Quarterly Target
12-Month Target
Process Goals
03. Risk Management
The numbers that protect your account. These are not suggestions, they are commands.
Account Size
Risk Per Trade
Daily Loss Limit
Weekly Loss Limit
Max Trades / Day
Position Sizing
Drawdown Protocol
04. Market & Strategy
The instrument you trade and the exact playbook you run, every single time.
Instrument
Strategy
Bias Rules
Entry Criteria
Exit Criteria
Risk : Reward
Trade Management
Setups I SKIP
05. Daily Routine
The same prep, the same window, the same review. Every single day.
Trading Window
Trading Days
Pre-Market (60 min before)
During Session
Post-Market
06. Psychology & Mindset
The internal rules. How you show up at the screen. How you handle losses, wins, and chop.
My Biggest Leak
After a Loss
After a Win
When I Feel Off
My Affirmation
07. News & Event Protocol
How you handle high-impact news. CPI, FOMC, NFP, earnings. The market does not respect your zones during these.
Red Folder Events
FOMC Days
CPI / NFP Days
08. Review & Growth
How you turn data into edge. What gets reviewed, when, and how you adjust.
Daily Review
Weekly Review
Monthly Review
Continuous Learning
09. Scaling Plan
When and how you increase size or accounts. Earned, not assumed.
Size-Up Trigger
Size-Down Trigger
Funded Account Plan
10. Accountability & Personal Rules
The non-negotiables. The promises you make to yourself. Everything else can flex, these cannot.
Hard Rules
Personal Commitments
Accountability Partner
11. The Signature
Sign your name. Date it. This is a contract with yourself.
Signed
Date
Next Review
Saved to your browser