Rule-break review: three common excuses

Name the excuse. Then make it boring.

Why this matters

A rubric tells you the sitting failed. It does not tell you which story you will tell yourself next time. This chapter exists for that review — still inside BarionQuant Training, still not a live desk. You will use Sessions, Step, notes or the end-of-session review, and Journal… if you archive.

We keep the three themes in the teaser on purpose. The template and the evidence list stay here so a skimmer cannot pretend they did the work.

The three families

1. Time pressure. “I had to decide.” In replay you did not. Pause existed. If you refused it, the break is about tempo, not the symbol.
2. Unfair tape. “Spread / gap / thin print.” Library quality columns (Gaps, Thin) are real. They are a reason to mark the series, not a reason to abandon the rule mid-bar.
3. Just this once. The rule still existed. You negotiated a waiver. Replay will let you do that forever. The software will not stop you.

If your sentence does not fit one family, write a fourth name. Do not force it. Do not add a market view (“USD is done”) — that is a forecast, and this handbook will not host it.

Post-mortem template

Copy into the session review or a local text file. Fill after End Training.

• Session id / time (from Sessions):
• Rule that was written before Play:
• Family (time / tape / once / other):
• Bar or clock time where it broke (use Step to land on it):
• What I told myself in the moment (quote, not summary):
• What the chart actually showed (one factual sentence):
• What I will refuse next sitting (one verb):
• Stop for the day? (yes if family repeats twice this week)

Evidence checklist (from the replay)

1. Reopen the session. Do not start a new one “to feel better.”
2. Step to the break. If you cannot find it, the artifact from the rubric was missing — that is the finding.
3. Read any chart note near the bar. If there is none, write one now that says “late note.”
4. Check series quality on the Library row. If it is Thin or Gaps, record that under family 2 — then still record the waiver if you also did family 3.
5. Confirm you did not open a live venue. If you did, the post-mortem is over: close Desktop and stop for the day.
6. File the paragraph in Journal if you use it. One paragraph, not a memoir.

Screenshots

Common mistakes

• Writing a new rule that is really a market opinion. Keep the verb (“I will Pause before the second ticket”).
• Reviewing three sessions in one evening. One break, one template.
• Using this page to justify size. Size is the next article and is still training-only.
• Pasting a news headline into the “what the chart showed” line.
• Performing the review in a group chat. Keep it local.

Educational training content only. BarionQuant is not a broker and does not provide investment advice. Past practice results do not predict future outcomes.