The Candlelight Brain
How traders think under flickering pressure: discipline, heuristics, and decision quality.
Why It Matters
Markets blink in milliseconds; your brain writes stories in milliseconds too. Edge comes from converting stories into rules.
Playbook
- Pre-commit triggers, invalidation, and position size so execution is a lookup, not a debate.
- Score trades on process compliance before P&L.
- Reward the boring: clean entries at planned levels; no improvisation mid-trade.
Metrics to Track
- Process compliance score (0–100)
- Average R per trade and per day
- Max adverse excursion vs. stop distance
- Time-to-recover from peak-to-trough drawdown
Common Traps
- Expanding risk after a win or contracting after a loss without rules
- Overfitting entries to noise on lower timeframes
- Neglecting higher-timeframe regime checks
Checklist (print this)
- Bias and invalidation stated in one sentence.
- Position size derived from distance-to-stop.
- Entry trigger and exit cadence specified.
- Kill-switch conditions defined (session drawdown / error count).
- Post-trade note (2 lines): what was planned, what happened.
Educational content only. Not financial advice.