Lessons › Why traders lose › The 10-minute weekly review
World 11 · Why traders lose · lesson 30 · level 2
The 10-minute weekly review
Once a week, check three numbers (win rate, average win and loss in R, rule breaks), then pick one change for next week.
In one line
Once a week, give your journal ten minutes: three numbers, then one decision. Skip it, and the same mistakes quietly repeat.
Explained simply
Once a week, spend ten minutes with your journal. First, your win rate: the share of trades that made money. Seven wins out of twenty is 35%, and alone that says little. Second, your average win and loss in R, the amount you risked. At a 35% win rate with 1R average losses, the average win must be nearly 2R just to break even, which means ending at zero, before fees. Third, count your rule breaks, like a moved stop, and aim for zero. Then pick one change for next week, and only one.
A worked example
An example week: 7 wins out of 20 trades is a 35% win rate, and losing trades average 1R. To break even before fees, the average win must be 0.65 ÷ 0.35 = about 1.9R (0.65 is the share of trades that lose). Rule breaks: 1 moved stop + 2 skipped checklists + 1 trade outside the plan = 4. One change for next week: no trades after two losses.
Mistakes to avoid
- Judging your week by win rate alone.
- Counting profit but not rule breaks.
- Picking three changes at once, so you can't tell what worked.
- Writing the change down and not checking it at the next review.
Check yourself
You won 10 of your 20 trades this week. What is your win rate?
50%. Win rate is the share of trades that made money: 10 out of 20 is 50%.
Which number in the weekly review do you fully control?
Your rule breaks. Moved stops, skipped checklists and trades outside your plan are all your choice. That count matters more than profit: aim for zero.
After the review, how many changes do you make for next week?
One, written at the top of your journal. Only one, so at the next review you can check whether you kept it and what it did.
With a 35% win rate and average losses of 1R, what average win do you need just to break even, before fees?
About 1.9R. 0.65 ÷ 0.35 = about 1.9R, nearly 2R. With a smaller average win, the average trade loses even before fees.
Your win rate is 35%, your average loss is 1R, and your average win is 1.5R. Before fees, what happens on average?
You lose money. At 35% wins you need nearly 2R per win to break even. 1.5R falls short, so the average trade loses.
Goal of this lesson: Run a 10-minute review of your week, and write one change at the top of your journal.