How To Make Your First Trading Plan Step By Step | OVTLYR University Lesson 7
Building Your Trading Plan Through Review & Personalization
This lesson focuses on reviewing individual trading plans, understanding how different traders apply the same OVTLYR frameworks, and reinforcing why personalization, consistency, and discipline determine whether a plan succeeds. Instead of handing out a single rigid plan, the session shows how traders refine rules that fit their experience, psychology, and preferred methods.
1. Why You Must Build Your Own Plan
● A published list of rules is useless without execution.
● Most traders will ignore or distort rules even when handed to them.
● Only a minority will apply rules consistently enough to benefit.
● Your plan must match your personality—otherwise you won’t follow it.
● Success depends on consistency and discipline, not access to rules.
2. Emotional Reality Inside the Discord
Even when 70% of positions were winning, the chat felt like a “big nasty red day.”
This illustrates:
● Traders still struggle primarily with psychology.
● A plan exists to prevent emotional decisions.
● OVTLYR University is designed to help traders become outliers—those who can act based on rules, not feelings.
3. Student Plan Walkthrough #1: Mark
Key elements from Mark’s plan discussion:
3.1 What He Trades
● Stocks, options, ETFs
● No selling options, no spreads
● Only trades options inside defined trends
3.2 Lessons From Selling Zero-DTE Spreads
● Long streaks of wins created overconfidence
● One loss wiped out gains and caused major damage
● The setup “worked until it didn’t,” revealing flawed risk/reward
● Hard to break habits after experiencing early success
3.3 Liquidity Rules & Option Structure
● 300+ open interest for easier recall
● Strong preference for high liquidity
● Understands why extrinsic value limits matter
● Recognizes intrinsic + extrinsic can both decline
3.4 Risk Management
● Limit risk to 2%
● Previously risked 6–7%, which amplified psychological impact
● Will only trade options in specific accounts—others remain stock-only
● Commitment to staying consistent
● Avoiding emotional setups and maintaining structure
3.5 Key Mindset Shifts
● Treating trades as business inventory
● Losses are “inventory markdowns,” not personal failures
● Focusing on portfolio-level outcomes, not individual trades
4. Student Plan Walkthrough #2: Carol
4.1 Trading Universe
● Follows OVTLYR rules
● No selling options
● Timing rules carried over from her prior day-trading experience
4.2 Timing Filters
● Never buys on a down day
● Reviews market midday to understand the typical “tip over” period
● Uses last hour for final decision-making
4.3 Chart-Level Selection Filters
● Candle patterns
● MACD divergence
● One-year/one-day and one-minute volume
● Money flow (actual dollar flow)
● OVTLYR values and ATR levels to judge room to run
4.4 Position Sizing & Emotion Control
● 2% risk on long options
● If emotional urgency appears, she walks away
● No interruptions during analysis or order placement
4.5 Exit Structure
● ATR-based stop adjustments
● Half-ATR reentry triggers
● 3 ATR emergency exit using historical behavior of the ticker
5. Student Plan Walkthrough #3: William
5.1 Entry Framework
● Trades stocks and ETFs (options only in certain conditions)
● Requires:
● 1M+ share volume
● 10 > 20 and price > 50
● Price above previous day’s low
● ATR extensions checked for overextension
● Avoids entering above 2.5 ATR over the 10 EMA
● Considers volume trend as potential exhaustion signal
5.2 Option Criteria
● Prefers delta 80 but flexible 60–90
● Targets 18–42 days to expiration
● Minimum 250 OI plus five times his contract count
● Extrinsic value < 25%
● Tight bid/ask spreads (≤15% or ≤$0.50)
● Mid-price + $0.05 execution approach
5.4 Risk Framework
● 1% portfolio risk per trade
● Two-ATR stop with ATR trail-up logic
● Exit above 2.5 ATR over 10 EMA
● Uses Fear/Greed > 75 as a test variable for backtesting
● Intraday exits at major order block rejections
6. Student Plan Walkthrough #4: Art
6.1 Daily Structure & Mindset
● Starts every morning with OVTLYR review
● Runs the scanner daily even without trades
● Checks Dashboard, breadth, and watchlist alignment
● Focuses on humility and emotional control
● Accepts losses as business costs
6.2 Market Filters & Tools
● Removes sectors with bearish breadth
● Uses order blocks and heat maps extensively
● Notes heat map turning points align with buy/sell signals
● Applies “Charlotte rule”: ensuring next-strike liquidity for rolling
6.3 Risk Reduction Priority
● Rolls early (even before 1 ATR) if credit available
● Optimizes position size using the sizing spreadsheet
● Aims for 2.5% risk cap
● Must take trades that meet criteria—no second-guessing
● Journals all trades
6.4 Lifestyle & Practical Rules
● Avoids trading around holiday weekends
● Removes trades before vacations
● Stays off mobile trading while with family
● Monthly management rules for Vanguard accounts using 10 EMA
7. Core Lesson Takeaways
Even though the plans looked different, the strong ones shared the same foundation:
● Define exactly what you can trade.
● Define when you can trade.
● Define how much you can trade.
● Liquidity rules must be explicit.
● Risk must be capped with math, not feelings.
● Emotional triggers must be identified and avoided.
● Backtesting refines ideas; it does not validate opinions.
● Everyone’s plan must be personalized.
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