L2.1 — Rules vs Intentions: Why Intentions Are Not Enough

An intention is something you plan to do. A rule is something you have committed to doing with a defined consequence for violation. The difference is specificity and accountability. "I intend to not chase entries" is an intention. "If price has moved more than 15 pips past my intended entry, I do not take the trade" is a rule. One can be overridden with a rationalisation. The other cannot.

The trading rule must be: observable (you can check whether it was followed), binary (yes or no — no partial compliance), and consequenced (a defined response to violation — typically a mandatory break or reduced sizing for the remainder of the session).

Write your rules as conditional statements: "If X, then Y." "If I have taken three trades in a session, I stop for the day." "If I feel the urge to enter without my checklist complete, I wait 10 minutes and re-evaluate." The conditional structure forces the rule to cover the specific situation it was designed for.