Setting Up Your Trading Plan

Overview

When you first open TradingPlan, the onboarding flow walks you through the basics. But there's more to configure beyond that first screen. This guide covers the complete setup path — from signing in to having a working, personalised trading plan.

Estimated time: 20–45 minutes for a solid first pass (you can always come back and add more detail later)

Step 1: Sign In With Apple

TradingPlan uses Sign In With Apple to keep your data private and synced across devices. You don't need a separate account — just your Apple ID.

1. On the login screen, tap Sign In With Apple
2. Follow the Apple prompt to confirm with Face ID, Touch ID, or your password
3. On first sign-in, Apple gives you the option to share or hide your email — either option works fine

Step 2: Complete the Onboarding Flow

The onboarding flow introduces the app and optionally walks you through creating your first strategy. You can:

• Follow the flow to create a strategy right away
• Skip it and set things up at your own pace from the main app

If you skip it, that's fine — you can access everything from the main tabs at any time.

Step 3: Build Your Philosophy

Go to Trade Plan → Philosophy.

Your philosophy is the foundation of everything else. It defines who you are as a trader — before you write a single rule. Take your time here. Answer honestly.

The section covers:

• Market Belief — what you believe about how markets work
• Analytical Foundation — technical, fundamental, or a blend
• What I Value — your analytical tools and concepts (select all that apply)
• Trader Profile — your timeframe and the markets you trade
• Core Trading Style — trend follower, counter-trend, breakout trader, and so on

When done, tap Save in the top-right corner.

Step 4: Set Your Risk Rules

Go to Trade Plan → Risk Management.

Your risk rules determine how much you'll lose on any trade — and how much total damage you'll accept before stopping. This is the most protective part of your plan.

Set up:

• Position Sizing — choose your method (% of account, fixed lot, fixed cash amount, or custom)
• Drawdown Limits — set a daily/weekly/monthly loss limit and a hard stop total drawdown

If you're on Pro, configure the advanced sections: news risk, concurrent trade limits, spread risk, and more.

Tap Save when done.

Step 5: Create a Strategy

Go to Strategies and tap Create New Strategy.

A strategy is your specific set of rules for one trading setup. Give it a name that describes the setup (e.g. "London Breakout", "EMA Crossover Swing").

Build your rules across the six sections:

• Analysis — what market conditions must be present
• Directional Bias — how you establish the trade direction
• Entry — your entry trigger and conditions
• Stop-Loss — where and why you place your stop
• Target — your profit target logic
• Active Management — how you manage the trade once it's open

Once you're happy with your rules, tap the star icon on the strategy to include it in your plan. This makes it available in the strategy flow and on your dashboard.

Step 6: Set Up a Routine (Optional but Recommended)

Go to Trade Plan → Routines and tap Create New Routine.

A routine is a checklist you run before, during, or after a trading session. It keeps you consistent and prepared. You can build one from scratch or start from one of the built-in templates.

Good starter routines:

• Pre-market — check economic calendar, mark key levels, check mindset
• Pre-trade — confirm your strategy conditions, check risk rules
• Post-session — review what happened, log notes, evaluate discipline

Step 7: Add Your Mindset & Why (Optional)

Go to Trade Plan → Mindset and Trade Plan → Your Why.

These sections are short but powerful. Your "Why" is your motivation — the real reason you're doing this. Your mindset notes are your personal psychological anchors. Both become reference points when the market is testing you.

Step 8: Explore the Dashboard

Go to the Dashboard tab. Tap the slider icon (top right) to customise which widgets appear. You can add:

• Your strategies
• Strategy schedule
• Active routines
• Philosophy and mindset summaries
• A motivational quote
• A custom note widget

Arrange the dashboard to surface what matters most to you each day.

You're Set Up

At this point you have a working trading plan. It may not be complete or perfect — that's normal. A trading plan is a living document. Come back to it regularly, especially after meaningful market experiences, losing streaks, or when your approach evolves.

The best plan is the one you actually follow.