Fear of pulling the trigger: get the click back at a size you cannot feel
Hesitation is not doubt about the setup. It is the size being above your current emotional capacity, so waiting feels like relief — and relief is what makes the habit stick.
Is this you?
- —Your setup prints and your entry window closes without a click.
- —You enter late, after the move has already paid you for waiting.
- —You take a smaller, adjacent trade instead of the real one.
- —You feel relief when you skip, then regret an hour later.
Two or more of those and this is the state costing you the most, not the strategy.
What it actually costs
Missed valid entries do not show up in your P&L, which is why this problem survives for years. What it costs you is the top of your distribution — the trades your edge actually depends on.
The protocol: Kettle Drill
Trigger — Your setup appears and you notice yourself waiting for one more candle.
- 1.Count down out loud: three, two, one.
- 2.On "one", place the order at minimum size — the smallest your platform allows.
- 3.Set the stop immediately, before you look at price again.
How long — Under ten seconds per entry; run it for two weeks of sessions.
Read the full protocol, success test and what to do if it fails →Do this in your next session
Drop to the smallest size your platform allows and take the next ten setups inside your window, outcome irrelevant. One line per trade on whether the entry matched the plan. Only then go up a rung.
Not sure this is your state?
The quiz takes two minutes, needs no sign-up, and names your top three protocols out of the fourteen.
Keep reading
Work it through with the Coach
Describe your last bad trade. It names the state, picks the protocol and gives you the exercise to run before the next session. Free to use.