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A pre-mortem is a planning technique from project management: before starting, you imagine the project has failed and list the reasons why. Applied to trading, it takes about ten minutes on Sunday.

How to run it:

1. Assume next Friday you are down more than your weekly loss limit.
2. Write down the three most likely reasons. Be specific: "traded CPI with full size", "kept fading a trend on Tuesday", "too tired after late nights".
3. For each reason, write one preventive rule for this week only.

Why it works:

• It brings known weaknesses into focus before they are triggered.
• It ties general rules to this week's actual calendar and circumstances.
• On Friday, comparing the real week with the pre-mortem is a quick, honest review.

Over a few months, the same reasons tend to repeat. That list is a better guide to improvement than any general advice.

Would a pre-mortem fit into your weekly routine, and what would be on your first list?

I started doing a Sunday pre-mortem after a week where I blew half the daily budget on a CPI fade I had already banned in my notes. Writing the failure first made the ban stick for that week instead of sitting as a vague intention.

My first list is almost always the same three: full size into US data, revenge re-entry after a scratch, and trading past 16:00 London when I am already tired. For each one I write a single week only rule, like half size until Wednesday if CPI is on the card.

The Friday compare is the part that pays. Last month the pre-mortem named revenge sizing and the real week showed two of those tags, so size dropped the following Monday without a long journal session.

I disagree that the list needs to be creative every week. Repeating the same failure modes is the point; novelty usually means I am inventing fiction.

Do you keep the preventive rules visible on the desk during the week, or only in the Sunday file? I keep a sticky note with the three week only bans next to the platform.