Case note: Rebuilding a six-month journal
Client: Part-time trader, primarily VN30 index contracts. Engagement: Four-week coaching package, March 2025.
When Linh arrived, her folder held four hundred chart screenshots with no consistent labels. Week one focused on defining a five-colour key: planned entry, actual entry, stop, target, and invalidated level. Week two applied the key to ten historical trades she considered "messy."
By week four she could open any screenshot from the prior month and explain the trade in under ninety seconds. She reported missing fewer journal entries, though she noted that annotating while the market was open still felt rushed — a habit she planned to address separately.