Measuring R before the entry, not after

Most journals celebrate realised R once the trade is closed. Useful, but late. Planned R is the number that decides whether you click at all.

Mark the invalidation first. Measure the distance from intended entry to that stop in price units. Then mark the first structural target that would actually pay you for waiting — not the hopeful extension three swings away. Divide target distance by stop distance. That quotient is planned R.

If your floor is 1:2 and the chart offers 1:1.3 after honest markup, the skill is walking away. Technical analysis training that skips this refusal step teaches pattern recognition without capital protection.

Try a week where every idea below your floor is logged as “skipped — R short” rather than forgotten. The skipped list often teaches more than the filled tickets.