12 March 2026
Write the invalidation before the entry
A session plan that names only targets is incomplete. Marking where the idea is wrong changes how you size and how you journal.
Most unfinished journals start with unfinished plans. If the morning sheet lists a level and a hoped-for move but never says where this idea is wrong, the afternoon write-up becomes a story about luck.
In training sittings we ask clients to complete a three-line block before they may discuss entries:
- Bias and level set — what structure you are reading and which prices matter today.
- Invalidation — the print or behaviour that means you stand down or reverse the plan language.
- Engagement rules — when you are allowed to act, and when you only observe.
Invalidation is not a stop-loss lecture. It is a reading decision: if price accepts beyond a zone you treated as decisive, the narrative you wrote at 07:50 no longer owns the session. Journaling then becomes simple — did price tag that line, and did you honour what you wrote?
Traders who skip this step often fill journals with explanations after the fact. Traders who write invalidation first tend to leave shorter, colder notes — and clearer plans the next morning.