The hour before the session

The hour before a session is where most discipline is actually won. Once the candles start printing, you are negotiating with yourself. Before they do, you can still read your own page.

Open the platform and do nothing for five minutes. Note the spread, the session you are about to enter, and whether a scheduled release is about to land. If you do not know the calendar, look it up before you look for a setup.

Read the one-page plan out loud, or at least move your lips. It feels odd and it works. Then write one sentence: what would have to be true for you to take a practice trade today. If you cannot write the sentence, the honest outcome of the session is observation, and observation counts.

Stop the session on the rule you wrote, not on your mood. If the rule was two practice trades, the third idea gets written in the journal and left alone. The journal is where you find out whether the plan is any good. The chart is a terrible place to edit it.