Analytics

Tracking Your Planning Gap: Plan vs Execution

Learn how to use planning gap analysis to measure the distance between your trading plan and actual execution.

Planning gap analysis measures how closely your actual trading matches your pre-session plan. The gap between intention and execution is where most profits are lost.

Setting Up Plan Tracking

Step 1: Create Your Pre-Session Plan

Before each session, navigate to Sessions then New Session. The plan section includes:

Instruments to watch: List 3-5 specific instruments

Setups to target: Describe 2-3 specific scenarios (e.g. "ES breakout above 4520 with volume")

Maximum risk: Total risk budget for the session

Contingencies: What you will do if specific conditions arise

Step 2: Trade Your Session

Execute your trades as normal. Each trade is automatically tagged as either matching a planned setup or not.

Step 3: Post-Session Review

At session close, the planning gap calculator compares your plan against execution.

The Planning Gap Dashboard

Navigate to Analytics then Planning Gap to see:

Gap Score (0-100%)

Your overall plan adherence percentage. Calculated from:

Percentage of planned trades that were actually taken

Percentage of actual trades that were in the plan

Degree of deviation on partially planned trades

Unplanned Trades

A list of trades you took that were not in your pre-session plan. Each shows:

Instrument and direction

P&L outcome

What triggered the entry (from your post-trade notes)

Missed Opportunities

Planned setups that triggered but you did not trade. Shows:

The planned setup description

What the outcome would have been

Estimated P&L if executed

Plan Deviations

Trades that were planned but executed differently:

Entry at a different level than planned

Different position size

Different stop or target

The Key Comparison

The most powerful view is the side-by-side P&L comparison:

Category	Average R-Multiple	Win Rate	Count
Planned trades	+0.6R	57%	142
Unplanned trades	-0.3R	38%	67

This table alone motivates plan adherence for most traders.

Gap Score Over Time

The trend chart shows your planning gap score week by week. Watch for:

Declining trends during winning streaks (overconfidence leads to improvisation)

Improving trends after losses (pain reinforces discipline)

Stable high scores (consistent process regardless of outcomes)

Improving Your Gap Score

Better Plans

Be specific: "ES long above 4520" is measurable; "look for breakouts" is not

Be realistic: 3-5 setups maximum per session

Include contingencies: "If my first trade loses, I will..."

Better Execution

Keep your plan visible during the session

Before each trade, check whether it matches a planned setup

If it does not, wait 5 minutes before entering (the cooling period often prevents impulse trades)

Weekly Review

Each week, examine:

1Your 3 largest unplanned trades—what triggered them?

2Your 3 largest missed opportunities—what prevented execution?

3Your planning gap trend—is it improving?

For the full framework on closing the planning gap, read our blog post on [Planning Gap Analysis: Measuring Intention vs Execution](/blog/planning-gap-analysis-intention-vs-execution).