✅The Discipline Check

August 19, 2025

In partnership with

Hello, my friends!

🧠 Markets are drifting lower after tagging all-time highs - classic rebalance action, not a plot twist.

⚠️ The danger isn’t the pullback… it’s our urge to chase when momentum cools.

📈 This week’s focus is a single word that can wreck portfolios, prop accounts, and confidence across the board: addiction - specifically, the addiction to “one more trade” and “one more push”.

We’ve all felt it…

4-Step Reset Lesson

No fluff. If you’re clicking from boredom, you’re feeding dopamine - not edge. Here’s the fast reset.

1) Spot the Tells 🔎

  • “One more trade” after your plan is done

  • Hiding P&L / swapping accounts to keep trading

  • Revenge trades after a loss

  • Skipping food/water/sleep to “stay in the zone”

2) Hard Rules, Hard Stops ⛔

  • Session cap: max 2 hours (same daily window, e.g., 9:30–11:30 ET)

  • Trade cap: 2–3 high-quality shots/day

  • Loss guardrail: daily loss limit + two-strike rule (2 losses = power down)

  • Automation: platform lockouts, remove mobile trading apps, grayscale phone

  • If-Then: “If I hit daily loss, I close platform → 10-minute walk + journal”

3) Replace the Rush ⚡

  • Micro-wins: 5-min breathwork, 20 push-ups, fast walk

  • Competence loop: tag setups, grade discipline, screenshot entries

  • Skill swaps: chess puzzles, coding drills, 5 pages on risk

  • Urge surfing: 10-minute timer - observe the craving, don’t act

4) Make It Public 🤝

  • Check-ins: send plan before session

  • Tracker: post daily Win/Loss/Rule-Breaks in your community

  • Weekly review: score discipline, not P&L

Journal prompts (EOD):

  • Did boredom show up? What did I do instead of trading?

  • Which rule saved me today?

  • Which trigger (news/FOMO/loneliness) hit, and how will I intercept it tomorrow?

You don’t have a discipline problem - you have an unmanaged stimulation loop. Shrink the window. Enforce the rules. Replace the rush. Let accountability do the heavy lifting.

Alpha Futures Challenge

Status: Challenge passed and account funded.

Plan Going Forward:

  • Reduce risk per trade and protect equity.

  • Enforce a strict daily loss limit and a 2–3 trade cap.

  • Eliminate revenge trading -stay process-driven to avoid Trader Addiction.

Professional execution over impulse.

Market Rundown

Nasdaq100

Nasdaq extended its short-term bearish drift after printing all-time highs. With no major macro catalysts on the day, early buyers were flushed and sidelined, waiting for cleaner demand zones to re-engage.

Today’s Impulse:

  • U.S. copper fabricators raised prices despite a tariff reprieve tied to Trump’s policy stance.

  • Meta: Mark Zuckerberg is planning another overhaul of the company’s A.I. efforts.

  • Geopolitics: The White House says arrangements are underway for a Zelenskiy - Putin meeting.

Newsletter Partners

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Disclosure: Partner offers. Trading futures involves risk; only trade with capital you can afford to lose. This is not financial advice.

Big investors are buying this “unlisted” stock

When the founder who sold his last company to Zillow for $120M starts a new venture, people notice. That’s why the same VCs who backed Uber, Venmo, and eBay also invested in Pacaso.

Disrupting the real estate industry once again, Pacaso’s streamlined platform offers co-ownership of premier properties, revamping the $1.3T vacation home market.

And it works. By handing keys to 2,000+ happy homeowners, Pacaso has already made $110M+ in gross profits in their operating history.

Now, after 41% YoY gross profit growth last year alone, they recently reserved the Nasdaq ticker PCSO.

Paid advertisement for Pacaso’s Regulation A offering. Read the offering circular at invest.pacaso.com. Reserving a ticker symbol is not a guarantee that the company will go public. Listing on the NASDAQ is subject to approvals.

I’d love to hear about your entrepreneurial journey - just hit “reply” to this email to share your story!

And let’s keep the conversation going on X.

Until next time,
Steve B
Founder, The Daily Impulse

Important Disclaimer:

This newsletter is for educational purposes only and does not offer financial or investment advice. It should not be taken as a recommendation to trade assets or make any financial decisions. Please be cautious and ensure you conduct thorough research or consult with a financial professional before making any investment choices.

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