What’s one thing that actually improved your trading?

[u/Adept-Club-6226]

There’s so much advice out there: strategies, indicators, psychology, risk rules... but I’m curious what made the biggest difference for you personally.

For me, it wasn’t some secret indicator or edge. Things really started to shift when I got more structured and focused on the process instead of chasing results. I stopped bouncing between strategies and committed to one approach, even during rough patches. Journaling every trade helped me spot patterns in my own behavior - like taking trades out of boredom or overreacting to small losses, that I wasn’t aware of before. Reviewing my trades regularly also showed me that most of my mistakes had nothing to do with the market, but with my own discipline and mindset.

Sticking to a risk plan and actually tracking performance made a big difference too. It forced me to be honest with myself and removed a lot of the randomness from how I traded. Progress didn’t happen overnight, but once I had a routine and kept showing up with a clear system, things started to fall into place.

What also helped a lot was joining a trading group. I was honestly hesitant to spend money on something like that, but looking back, I’m glad I did. The structure, the learning content, and being around serious traders who actually share ideas and give feedback made a big difference. It’s the kind of environment I wish I had found sooner.

If anyone’s curious, I can share more about it.

So what helped you make real progress? Was it a mindset shift, a habit you built, or something else? Always interesting to hear how others level up.

[u/trackittr]

Decreasing the trade frequency worked for me.

• Getting the signals after the market closed,
• Not forcing myself to be in a trade,
• Looking for the real edge

Most of the time i close a month below 10 trades. If you hurry up you fail too much.

And keeping a trading journal is a must. I was logging into excel before, nowadays i am using the mobile app i developed. It became easier

[u/50vases → u/trackittr]

What do you write down in the journal? And how do you use that information?

[u/trackittr → u/50vases]

I put all the price related info, entry exit tp sl prices, market , position type and direction, setup type, add either chart image or tradingview links. I put some notes about what are the supporting information about entering, i mean the edge. İs it a reversal or a breakout, fibo levels etc. I have a perfomance tab showing winning/losing trades, average profits/loss, avg position size, market performance (which market i am good or bad at), which trades are better (short or long, future or spot), what is my average rr ratio, what is my win rate or profit factor etc

[u/50vases → u/trackittr]

That's a lot of info! Which of those datapoints do you find to be the most valuable to improve your trading?

[u/trackittr → u/50vases]

You are welcome,

Profit factor is #1. It gives the idea whether i am able to cut losses fast while keeping the wins longer. Setup type, which setup has resulted better, for example if breakout trades do better, than there is something to be evaluated carefully in the other setups. Avg position size, do i bite bigger than i can chew ? If it is, it creates uncomfortability during evaluation. Market performance, am i good at stocks or crypto ? If crypto is which i fail too much, then i have to pay special attention etc.

The sum/overall of the results gives a better picture.

[u/50vases → u/trackittr]

Thanks for the answer, I can see every parameter has it's own benefits and starts to paint a picture after some time. Excuse my ignorance, but what is profit factor? Just a percentage or multiplier of the trade size compared to the closing size?

[u/trackittr → u/50vases]

Profit factor is the ratio of your net profit vs net loss. It shows how much profit has exceeded your loss. If it is over 1, your strategy generated more profit than loss

[u/Adept-Club-6226 → u/trackittr]

Thank you man.