A trading plan is not a wish list or a strategy description. It's a set of rules you execute without deliberation in the session. Every decision that can be made in advance should be made in advance — because real-time decisions under uncertainty and emotional pressure are lower quality decisions.
What a plan needs
Market and session
Which instruments do you trade? Which sessions? Defining this prevents scope creep — chasing something that moved in a market you don't know, during hours when you're not at your best.
Your setups
Enumerate your setups precisely. Not "I trade value area rejects" but: "I take short entries at the VAH when price opens RTH inside value, tests VAH in the first 45 minutes, and shows at least one 5-minute candle with negative delta closing back below VAH."
If you can't write it that precisely, you don't have a setup — you have an idea. Ideas don't have trackable expectancy.
Entry criteria
For each setup: what specific conditions must be present to enter? Is it a limit order at a level, a market order on confirmation, or a stop entry on breakout? What's your trigger?
Stop placement
Where does your stop go for each setup? This should be defined by market structure, not by a fixed number of ticks. The stop should be at the point where your trade idea is wrong — not the point where you can emotionally tolerate the loss.
Target / exit rules
When do you exit winners? Fixed R targets (exit at 2R)? Trailing stops? Market-structure-based targets (exit at the POC below)? The exit strategy determines your average win — and average win, not win rate, is what drives expectancy in most approaches.
Risk parameters
Maximum risk per trade (in %). Maximum daily loss. Maximum weekly loss. What happens when you hit each limit — stop immediately, review before continuing, stop for the day?
No-trade rules
When do you not trade? Some common ones: within 30 minutes of major economic data, after hitting your daily loss limit, when you're emotionally off, when the market is in a tight range with no clear structure.
Instrument: ES futures. Session: RTH only (9:30am–12:00pm ET, max 2.5 hours). Setup: VAH/VAL fade with delta confirmation. Risk: 1% per trade, 3% daily max. Daily stop: if I hit -3%, done for the day no exceptions. No trades 15 min around major data.
The minimum viable plan
Your first plan doesn't need to be perfect. It needs to be specific enough to execute consistently and track accurately. Start with one setup. Define it precisely. Trade it for 30 sessions. Then review the data and refine.
Adding setups before you've mastered your first one is almost always a mistake. Expertise compounds on itself — a trader who truly masters one setup at one instrument is more profitable than one who trades five setups inconsistently.
The trading plan's job is to make your in-session decisions automatic, so the only thing left to manage is execution — not deliberation, not research, not new ideas. The market is open. Execute the plan.