L5.2 — Process Repair: Adjusting Rules After a Recurring Error

A recurring error is a mistake that appears three or more times in your trade log with the same cause. Recurring errors are not bad luck — they are system gaps. A rule that would have prevented the error does not yet exist in your process. The process repair procedure: identify the error, identify the condition that triggers it, write the specific rule that prevents it, add the rule to the relevant checklist, and monitor compliance with the new rule for the next 20 trades.

Process repair is not strategy change. It is adding precision to the rules that govern how you execute the strategy you already have. The strategy structure — the structural setups you trade, the markets you focus on, the basic entry model — should be stable across at least 50 trades before being evaluated for change.

After adding a new rule, track whether it eliminates the recurring error. If the error disappears, the repair was successful. If it persists despite the rule, the rule is either too vague or not being applied consistently. Revisit the rule with more specificity or add an accountability mechanism to enforce it.