Choosing a minimum risk-to-reward floor you will keep

Every Ratio lab cohort begins with the same uncomfortable exercise: name a minimum reward-to-risk number and defend it with your last twenty trades, not with a textbook.

Why floors fail

People borrow “2R” because it sounds disciplined. Then a tidy flag appears with only 1.3R available after an honest stop. They take it anyway. The floor was never a rule — it was a slogan.

Matching the floor to your style

Scalpers on index futures often need a lower floor than swing traders on ASX industrials, because targets sit closer and costs eat more of the reward. We do not prescribe one number for the room. We ask what ratio still leaves you selective after costs and after your typical win rate.

Writing it where you will see it

In the lab, the floor goes on the top line of the journal template, not in a forgotten settings pane. If a Monday plan cannot clear the floor, it does not enter the watchlist. That single habit is the lab’s main product.