Trade autopsy
A loss is either a planned cost or a mistake, and they are fixed in opposite ways: one by doing nothing, the other by rereading one specific lesson. Most traders treat both the same — feel bad, tighten up, repeat. Answer six questions about the trade you just closed and this sorts it.
Why “wrong price” and “wrong time” are different illnesses
Two losses can start at the same price and be nothing alike. If the level itself was wrong — the structure you traded from was not there on the timeframe that mattered — the fix is analysis: go back to how you read the chart. If the level was right but you entered before the market confirmed it, the knowledge was fine and the patience was not; the fix is a rule about triggers, not more chart study. Rereading candlestick lessons after a patience error changes nothing, which is why people “fix” the same loss for years.
The same split applies at the exit. A stop that was hit is the plan working; a stop that was moved, or never placed, is a different category altogether — and the most expensive one on this page.
What to do with the result
Paste the one-line verdict into the note of that trade in your journal. After ten autopsies the table below shows which category keeps coming back — that is the lesson to reread, and the only one. One category at a time; fixing five things at once fixes none.