Psychology in plain words — why a plan is not followed

All three cases are closed: in each one you can see the condition written in advance and what was done instead of it. This is not about emotions as such but about one measurable parting — between the criterion and the action.

First: the criterion is not met and the hand reaches anyway

EURUSD, four-hour chart, November 16, 2023. On the chart there is a daily imbalance still untouched: the liquidity left inside it, and price is heading there. It looks like a reason.

Only there is no trading range here, and with no range there is no point B. There is nowhere to go — so there is no trade. Not because it is frightening, but because the condition is not met. A few days later the range formed and there was something to check against: the waiting turned out to be the decision, not idleness.

Second: the criterion is met and the target is not taken

A closed case on gold, autumn 2024. Point A at 2536.69, the entry price at 2619.20, the target at 2790.08: twice as far to the target as to the cancellation, a ratio of 2.07 to one. The target was reached — on January 29, 2025 price closed at 2794.71.

But the exit came earlier, at 2710.33 — 53% of the way. There is a profit, and nothing to argue with. Only half the way was taken while the whole of it was risked: the risk stayed the same and the reward halved, so a ratio of 2.07 to one became 1.10 to one. At two to one it was enough to be right one time out of three — at one to one you have to be right every second time. An early exit changes the requirement not for one trade but for the whole series.

Third: the condition fires and a decision overrides it

The entry here had a basis: the break line, with point A underneath it — all of it written before the trade. Then the cancellation came: price went deeper than point A, and the exit was made exactly as written. Up to that point everything was done right.

And then — the re-entry. No new range, no new point A, no break line: not one reason, only the feeling that it ought to go. After that price went lower still. This is the most expensive of the three: having no condition costs less than overriding one.

All three places share one thing: a person does not remember whether the condition was met. So the condition has to be written down — on a sheet of paper if that is all there is. Four lines, and all of them before the entry: the range — there or not; point A — confirmed by what; point B — where we are going; the plan — met or not. Neither the mood nor the profit belongs in those lines.

Here is the point. A plan is not willpower, it is a written condition. Money cannot check you: the same trade closes in profit with the condition broken and at a loss with it kept. A written condition can be checked — and then a broken one is visible.

A written condition is convenient precisely because it is visible on the chart. The FocusProfit Trade Model indicator marks the boundaries of the range and the confirmed extremes, so «is there a range» and «what confirms point A» are questions with a checkable answer rather than an opinion. The same markup is what you check yourself against after the trade.

This is one of the lessons of the introductory «In Plain Words» course: one term per lesson. The topics are covered in more depth in the Learn section, and the causality in full is in the methodology.