Now that you understand the key benefits of keeping a trading journal and that consistency is required to be a successful trader, here are four simple steps to creating your own trading journal.

Choose your preferred method of journaling: pen and paper, excel, or trading journal software.

Determine what information you will track: instrument, long or short position, date of trade, the strategy used, reward to risk, successful or unsuccessful, and so on.

After you've finished placing stop losses and take profits, enter your trades into the journal. This is the most crucial step, and you must be consistent and diligent when recording trades.

Examine your performance after the time limit you set for yourself (daily, weekly, or monthly), and analyze the trades.