With 2025 winding down and the holiday season upon us, it’s time for forex traders to close out the year properly.
But wrapping up your trading year isn’t just about tallying profits or losses. It’s about setting yourself up for sustainable success in 2026.
After another eventful year in the currency markets, you owe it to yourself to reflect, reset, and recharge.
Here are four essential steps to wrap up 2025 the right way:
1. Reduce Your Risk Exposure (Or Close Shop Entirely)
The last week of December is typically one of the quietest periods in forex trading. Major financial centers wind down, institutional traders head out on vacation, and liquidity dries up.
Major currency pairs aren’t likely to make significant moves during this period. Sure, you might catch a few pips, but those gains aren’t worth checking your phone for price alerts while you’re supposed to be enjoying time with friends and family.
Close all your positions and give yourself a clean slate heading into the new year. If you’re holding long-term positions you refuse to exit, at least tighten your stop losses to protect your gains and give yourself peace of mind.
The markets will still be there when you get back.
2. Review Your Trading Journal and Performance Metrics
Just because you ended 2025 with profits doesn’t guarantee you’ll be profitable in 2026. The only way to maintain what’s working and fix what isn’t is to thoroughly review your trading journal.
If you haven’t been keeping a detailed journal, dig up those broker statements and start compiling the data. Even basic information can reveal critical insights about your average return-on-risk ratio, your longest drawdown periods, your biggest wins and losses, and your performance across different currency pairs.
Consider whether your strategies were appropriate for 2025’s market environment. Think about what processes need improvement. Look for psychological issues like fear, overconfidence, or revenge trading that may have interfered with your execution.
The numbers in your trading journal will tell helpful stories. Pay attention to what they’re saying.
3. Set Clear, Process-Focused Goals for 2026
Now that you’ve identified your strengths and weaknesses, set goals for the coming year. Keep them simple, realistic, and focused on process rather than profits.
You can’t control what the market gives you, but you can absolutely control your behavior and decision-making. Goals like “I will not take impulse trades,” “I will only risk 1% per trade,” and “I will journal every trade within 24 hours” are specific, measurable, and entirely within your control.
These are the kinds of commitments that compound into better performance over time.
4. Actually Enjoy Your Break
This might be the most important step, yet it’s the one traders most often skip.
Taking a real break from the markets is one of the most effective ways to reduce stress and prevent burnout. Unless you absolutely must trade during the final days of 2025, step away from the charts.
Use this quiet period to recharge. Spend time with people you care about. Let your mind rest from the constant analysis that trading demands.
When January 2026 rolls around, and institutional traders return to their desks, there will be plenty of opportunities to exercise your skills.
With these four steps, you’ll enter the new year mentally fresh, strategically prepared, and ready to adapt to whatever the markets throw your way.
So close those positions, review honestly, set meaningful goals, and give yourself permission to truly unplug. Your future trading self will thank you.
