The pre-session checklist
Decide your limits before the first decision of the session. · 6 min
Predict first
You risk 0.5% of the account per trade and stop the session after a 3R loss. What is the most the day can cost?
Most rule breaks happen in the middle of a session, after a stop or two, when the next chart feels like a chance to get even. The fix is to make the important decisions before the session, while nothing is at stake. Pilots run a checklist before every flight for the same reason: not because they forget, but because a tired or hurried mind skips steps.
Five quick taps
- Rested enough? Tired decisions are slower and sloppier. If not, the checklist halves the number of charts.
- Plan rules read today? A rule you cannot recall cannot guide a fast decision.
- Session loss limit, in R. Stop when the day is down this much. In R, so it means the same at any account size.
- Most charts today. A cap on volume: the twentieth chart of a day is rarely read as well as the first.
- Mood: calm, rushed, fearful, frustrated or overconfident. Naming the state is half of handling it, and the weekly review (lesson E3) uses it.
Ready. Trade the plan.
Today: stop after −3R or 5 charts, whichever comes first. At 0.5% risk per trade, the worst day you allow is −1.50% of the account.
Worked example
Written down before the first chart, $300 is a number you agreed to while calm. Reached after three stops, it is the end of the session, not a negotiation. Three stops in a row are not rare: at a 40% win rate any three given trades all lose 21.6% of the time, about once in five.
The cool-down
Your checklist travels to the simulator, which shows today's limits above the chart. A cool-down card appears after three stops in a row, when the loss limit or the chart limit is reached, or when a new trade starts within ten seconds of a stop (the revenge signal). It offers a three-minute breathing pause and the streak math at your own win rate. It never blocks: one tap continues.
Common mistake: raising the limit after reaching it ("just one more chart"). A limit moved during the session is a stop moved during a trade, one level up.
Check your understanding
The checklist says you feel frustrated. What changes?
At a 40% win rate, how often are any three given trades all losses?
When should the session loss limit be set?
You hit three stops in a row and the cool-down appears. What does it do?
Closing round
Save your checklist above, then open the simulator and play until your chart limit or loss limit ends the session, whichever comes first.
Start a session with today's limits →
Further reading: Douglas, Trading in the Zone; Steenbarger, The Daily Trading Coach. Wellbeing support for learning, not therapy: if losses from real trading are hurting you, talk to someone you trust or a professional.