Make Planning Exciting. Make Trading Boring.

Most traders do the exact opposite. They make the plan boring and the trading exciting. That’s why so many accounts don’t survive long.

I’ve learned that the best way to trade well is to live through the emotions before the market opens. Sit down, think it all through, imagine the highs and lows. Then, when the market is live, you’re just following a script.

When you plan well, the action itself feels almost dull. And that’s the point.

The False Thrill of Trading

Let’s be honest. Many people come to trading for the thrill. The charts move, prices spike, your heart rate rises. It feels like a casino where you think you’ve cracked the code.

But that thrill is expensive. If you let the market surprise you, it will almost always costs money.

The real thrill should come before the market. In the quiet of your desk, coffee in hand, sketching what could happen. That’s where you let yourself imagine the big wins, the scary losses, the “what ifs.”

Why Planning Absorbs Emotion

When I plan, I don’t just note entries and exits. I try to feel the emotions ahead of time.

• What if the stock gaps against me?

• What if I get stopped out two times in a row?

• What if it runs far in my favor?

By playing these scenarios out in advance, I blunt the shock. I’ve already lived them once. When it happens in real time, it’s no longer overwhelming. It’s just the script unfolding.

Boring Trading is Good Trading

There’s a phrase I keep reminding myself: Make planning exciting. Make trading boring.

• Planning should be where your creativity flows. You explore, imagine, write things down.

• Trading should feel like execution. Almost robotic. Click. Done. Next.

If your trading feels like a rollercoaster, something’s off. You didn’t plan well enough.

What Happens Without a Plan

Think of the trader who wakes up late, opens the chart, and decides “let’s see what happens.” That’s not trading. That’s gambling in disguise.

Without a plan, you’re exposed to every emotional trigger. A red candle makes you panic. A green candle makes you greedy. You chase, you exit early, you do everything except follow discipline.

Every mistake in trading is usually a planning mistake first.

How I Try to Do It

Here’s what works for me.

1. Night before. I look at the charts, build possible scenarios, and mark my levels.

2. Write it down. I create a short playbook for the next day.

3. Pre-market. I re-read it. Sometimes I role-play what could go wrong, so I feel the emotions ahead of time.

4. Market open. Just execution. No thinking.

It doesn’t always go perfectly. But I also have a “disciplinary” system for protocol violations, and that works pretty well too.

The Takeaway

If you want to survive long enough in this game, stop chasing the thrill during the trade. Put that energy into the planning.

Planning should be where your heart races. Trading should be boring.

That’s how you get consistently profitable.

Want to share this post with someone who should pay more attention to planning for the next trading session?