Building a Price Action Checklist
The difference between impulsive trading and systematic trading is a checklist. Build yours before you ever place another trade.
Why Checklists Work
Emotions compromise judgment under pressure. A pre-defined checklist replaces in-the-moment decisions with a prior commitment to a standard set when you were rational and unburdened by P&L pressure.
The Six-Point Price Action Checklist
- Higher Timeframe Bias: What is the dominant trend on the daily or H4? Am I trading with it?
- Key Level: Is price at a clear, well-defined support or resistance level?
- Price Action Signal: Has a valid pattern (engulfing, pin bar, inside bar) formed at the level?
- Confluence: Is there additional confluence — Fibonacci, session timing, trend line?
- Risk/Reward: Is the R:R ratio at least 1:2? If not, skip.
- Position Size: What lot size keeps risk at 1–2% of account?
Using the Checklist in Practice
Run through all six points before every entry. If any point fails, the trade does not meet criteria — do not enter. The emotional pull to enter a failing setup is itself useful information: it signals FOMO or confirmation bias. The checklist protects you from yourself.
The Role of Patience
A checklist naturally filters most potential trades — because most do not meet all criteria. This is a feature. Professional traders take fewer trades, not more. The highest win-rate traders are often the most selective.
Your edge is in your ability to wait for your setup and execute your plan exactly — every single time, without exception.