Trading psychology journal: tracking emotions and broken rules
How to journal tilt, revenge trading and moved stops so you can see what they cost, using your own trades.
Psychology shows up in specific moments
"Work on your psychology" is too vague to act on. In practice it means a few repeatable moments: moving a stop, adding to a loser, taking a trade outside your plan after a loss, sizing up after a win. A psychology journal records those moments as they happen.
Name the rule, not the feeling
Feelings are hard to count. Rules are easy. Write your rules down (for example: no trades in the first five minutes; stop never moves away from the entry; max three losses a day) and tag each trade as followed or broken, with the rule.
Count what each broken rule costs
After a few weeks, add up the P&L of trades where you broke each rule. Most traders find one or two rules account for most of their losses. That number is more persuasive than any trading book.
Catch it in the moment
The best time to notice tilt is before the next trade, not in the weekly review. A useful habit: after two losses in a row, or before increasing size, answer one question out loud, such as "Is this trade in my plan?"
How Afterfill helps
When you say "I moved my stop, that is the rule I broke", Afterfill tags the trade with that rule and counts the cost over time. After a losing streak or a size increase it asks a short process question before your next trade. It reflects your own process back to you and never tells you what to trade.