📌 Mastering ICT trading is not just about knowing the strategies—it’s about applying them consistently in a structured routine.
At this level of the ICT Deluxe Edition, you must integrate a professional, repeatable daily routine to ensure that every trade is executed with discipline and precision.
🚀 By the end of this chapter, you will understand:
✔️ How to structure your daily routine like a professional Smart Money trader.
✔️ How to prepare for trading with institutional-level analysis.
✔️ How to track liquidity, news events, and market sentiment.
✔️ How to review your trades to refine execution and improve consistency.
This is Dave – No Nonsense Trader, and this bonus chapter will help you turn ICT concepts into a structured daily trading routine.
1. Why You Need a Structured Trading Routine
📌 Without a structured routine, traders fall into emotional decision-making and inconsistency.
A Professional ICT Trading Routine Includes:
✔️ Pre-Market Preparation: Identifying liquidity zones and Smart Money positioning.
✔️ Trade Execution Windows: Trading only during Kill Zones.
✔️ Post-Trade Review: Journaling and refining strategy.
✔️ Daily & Weekly Performance Tracking: Measuring progress over timeAll Transcripts.
🔍 Example:
A trader who follows a strict daily routine improves faster than someone who trades impulsively.
This is why Dave – No Nonsense Trader treats trading as a profession, not a hobby.
📌 Image Guide:
📷 Suggested Image: A trading planner template displaying pre-market prep, trade execution windows, and review steps.
🎨 AI Prompt:
“Create a structured trading planner template displaying pre-market preparation, trade execution windows, and post-trade review steps. Use professional financial elements.”
2. The Perfect Pre-Market Preparation Routine
📌 Every professional trader spends time preparing before the market opens.
Steps for Pre-Market Preparation:
✔️ Check economic news for high-impact events (FOMC, NFP, CPI).
✔️ Identify key liquidity pools (Buy-Side and Sell-Side Liquidity).
✔️ Map out institutional Order Blocks & Fair Value Gaps.
✔️ Determine the daily bias based on higher timeframes (Weekly & Daily).
🔍 Example:
A trader analyzes the COT report and sees institutions increasing net long positions, confirming a bullish sentiment before the session startsAll Transcripts.
This is why Dave – No Nonsense Trader always checks institutional positioning before trading.
📌 Image Guide:
📷 Suggested Image: A pre-market analysis dashboard showing economic news, liquidity levels, and institutional positioning.
🎨 AI Prompt:
“Create a structured pre-market analysis dashboard displaying economic news, liquidity levels, and institutional positioning data. Use professional trading annotations.”
3. How to Execute Trades During Kill Zones
📌 Smart Money executes trades at specific times when liquidity is highest.
The Four Key ICT Kill Zones:
✔️ London Open (2 AM – 5 AM New York Time) – High-volume liquidity grabs.
✔️ New York Open (8 AM – 10 AM New York Time) – Institutional order executions.
✔️ London Close (10 AM – 12 PM New York Time) – Reversals & profit-taking moves.
✔️ New York Close (2 PM – 4 PM New York Time) – Final liquidity sweeps of the dayAll Transcripts.
🔍 Example:
A trader waits for liquidity sweeps at the New York Open Kill Zone before executing an Order Block trade.
This is why Dave – No Nonsense Trader never trades randomly—he only trades when Smart Money is executing orders.
📌 Image Guide:
📷 Suggested Image: A Kill Zone trading clock highlighting institutional trade execution windows.
🎨 AI Prompt:
“Create a structured trading clock infographic highlighting ICT Kill Zones for London Open, New York Open, and London Close. Use professional trading annotations.”
4. The Ideal Post-Trade Review Process
📌 Professional traders don’t just trade—they review their trades to refine execution.
How to Review Your Trades Effectively:
✔️ Record every trade in a journal (entry, stop loss, target, and reasoning).
✔️ Analyze whether the trade followed your plan.
✔️ Identify mistakes (poor execution, emotional trading, bad risk management).
✔️ Refine your approach based on past performanceAll Transcripts.
🔍 Example:
A trader reviews their weekly trades and notices that most losses came from trading outside of Kill Zones, leading them to adjust their execution strategy.
This is why Dave – No Nonsense Trader always analyzes past trades to refine future performance.
📌 Image Guide:
📷 Suggested Image: A trading journal template displaying trade entry details, risk management, and post-trade review notes.
🎨 AI Prompt:
“Create a structured trading journal template displaying trade entry details, risk management statistics, and post-trade review notes. Use professional financial elements.”
5. How to Track Performance & Stay Consistent
📌 Consistency in trading comes from tracking and refining execution over time.
How to Track Performance Effectively:
✔️ Measure win/loss rate and risk-to-reward ratios weekly.
✔️ Identify common mistakes and refine strategy.
✔️ Review liquidity sweeps and institutional positioning before trades.
✔️ Adjust trade execution based on market conditionsAll Transcripts.
🔍 Example:
A trader identifies that they lose more trades when trading counter to the higher timeframe trend, leading them to only take trades in the direction of Smart Money flow.
This is why Dave – No Nonsense Trader believes trade tracking is the key to long-term success.
📌 Image Guide:
📷 Suggested Image: A trading performance tracker displaying key statistics for risk-to-reward, win rate, and trade execution quality.
🎨 AI Prompt:
“Create a structured trading performance tracker displaying key statistics such as risk-to-reward, win rate, and trade execution quality. Use professional trading elements.”
6. Final Thoughts – Structuring Your Future in ICT Trading
🔥 You’ve now built a structured trading routine—this is the foundation of professional trading.
📌 What separates successful traders from the rest?
✅ They follow a structured daily routine.
✅ They execute trades only in optimal market conditions.
✅ They track performance and continuously refine execution.
✅ They never stop learning, improving, and growing.
📌 Final Thought:
💡 “Discipline and consistency are what turn skilled traders into professionals.”
🚀 Now you have the ultimate ICT trading routine—use it to dominate the markets.