Write the trigger before the candle closes
If your entry rule needs the next bar to “confirm how you feel,” it is not a rule yet — it is a wish.
Many charts look convincing until you ask what exact bar authorises size. “Break of resistance” is a headline. A usable trigger names the close required, the location relative to structure, and what cancels the idea if that close never arrives.
In our Intensives we ask learners to write the trigger as a sentence they could score tomorrow on an unmarked chart. If two honest readers would disagree, the wording is still soft.
Common soft spots include requiring a “strong” candle without defining body size, or allowing a reclaim “soon” without a bar count. Soft spots become discretionary entries dressed up as planning.
Once the trigger is tight, keep it frozen for a month of journaling. Retuning the wording every losing week is often avoidance of accepting that the location filter — not the candle shape — was the real problem.