a quick state check before opening the platform

[Shadow Trader]

A pre-session check doesn't need to be a ritual with candles. A handful of yes or no questions is enough, and the answers decide whether the first hour gets full size or half.

- Slept more than five or six hours?
- Eaten something, or is it coffee on an empty stomach?
- Anything unresolved pulling attention toward the phone, like a message, a bill or an argument?
- Did yesterday end on a loss that's still annoying?
- Any urge to make up for yesterday?
- Hands steady, or jittery from caffeine?

Two or more wrong answers is a hint to trade smaller or sit the first hour out. Not a law, just a pattern that tends to become visible once a few weeks of answers sit next to the P&L.

The interesting part is how often the answer to the fifth question is yes, and how rarely anyone writes it down.

Which question would you drop, and is there one missing that has predicted bad sessions for you?