Some habits end a feeling. Others chase one.
Depthwork is one-to-one coaching on the things you do without deciding to. Where do you want to start?
It's 9:47, you're green, and your cursor is already on Close.
I work with traders on the execution habits that cost them evaluations, payouts and account balances, without teaching another strategy.
The reflex that ends the feeling
Most of what breaks an execution plan happens in a few seconds. Here's what those seconds look like from the inside.
Illustration of the idea, not data.
The trade works. Then it pulls back a little, and a feeling starts to build: it's about to take it all back.
Closing it makes that feeling stop, right away, every time. That's why the habit survives every promise to follow your exit plan. Psychologists call this a safety behavior.
Each early close keeps the fear alive for the next trade. You never find out what holding would have taught you.
Holding is harder, and it teaches. The pullback still stings. What changes, each time you hold, is how long the sting lasts.
Everyone has both, and which one takes over keeps changing
Relief habits end a feeling: closing a winner early, widening the stop. Chase habits pursue one: the trade straight after a loss, the size after a good day. Every trader carries both, and the conditions of the session decide which one is louder. Sitting through means holding when you want to escape. Sitting out means not acting when you want more.
Tap the ones you've done this month.
Your mix shows up here.
Two tests, one trader
On a prop account, passing the evaluation and staying funded ask for different things. The same person has to switch between them in just a few days.
What passing rewards
- Racing to a numberThe test has a finish line, and getting there is the whole job.
- Pushing harder on good daysA strong day gets you closer, so you lean in.
- Taking big swingsFailing usually means a reset fee and another try, so risk feels cheap.
What staying funded asks for
- No finish lineThe job is to still be trading next month, and the month after.
- Protecting what you've builtLosing the account now means losing something you earned, so every drawdown feels heavier.
- Meeting the conditions to get paidPayouts come with their own requirements, and every firm sets them differently.
- The day after a payoutTaking money out changes how the account feels, even when nothing about the market has changed.
Same trader, same read of the market. The scoreboard changed, and nobody trained you for the new one.
Trading your own account? The same switch happens after a strong month, when building the balance turns into protecting it. Prop rules are different at every firm, so check your own agreement.
It's 6:15, the gym bag is by the door, and you're already drafting the reason.
I work with people on the habit loops running their health, fitness and relationships. We find out what each loop is doing for you, then train what you can sit through and what you can sit out.
Every loop earns its keep
A habit that survives years of good intentions is doing something for you. Usually it ends a feeling, or it chases one. Pick one and follow it around.
Everyone has both, and which one takes over keeps changing
Some habits end a feeling you can't stand. Others chase one you want. Everyone carries both, and a long week or a short night can change which one is louder.
Tap the ones you've done this month.
Your mix shows up here.
Your habits talk to each other
Log a few things across the week and connections start to show, usually somewhere you wouldn't have guessed. Pick one to see where it runs.
Examples of the kind of thing that surfaces.
The Depth Stack
A pattern that keeps coming back has layers. The behavior is the part you can see. What keeps it running sits further down, and that's where the work has to reach.
- 01
Behavior
What you do. It's the part you can point to, so every session starts here.
Closing the winner early, again.The workout that didn't happen.
- 02
Emotion
What you feel in the seconds before it happens. Each feeling is pointing at something.
Fear, the second the trade pulls back.Dread at 6:15, with the gym bag by the door.
- 03
Belief
The story under the feeling. It feels like fact because you've repeated it for years.
“If I give this back, I'm behind.”“One day off won't matter.”
- 04
Identity
Who you believe you are, and what the pattern protects. It resists the most, and it's where change lasts.
“I'm the trader who always gives it back.”“I'm not someone who sticks with things.”
- 05
Nervous system
The state your body is in. Under full stress, resolve goes offline right when you need it, so regulation comes first.
Tight chest, shallow breath, cursor on Close.Wired and worn out at the end of a long day.
Three phases, sixteen weeks
Recognize the pattern, reshape what drives it, then reinforce the new version until it holds. The order never changes. The pace follows you.
- 01Weeks 1–5
Recognize
See clearly
Nothing gets fixed yet. We trace the pattern down the stack to the layer driving it, and find what it gives you, even when it costs you.
We start with a recent trade, replayed moment by moment.We start with the last time it showed up: the vape after a hard call, the workout that didn't happen.
MilestoneThe pattern is named, its driver found, and your Trust Score baseline set. - 02Weeks 6–10
Reshape
Build something true
We test the belief against your own experience, then build a new routine that meets the same need the old one did.
You build a pre-session routine, a circuit breaker rule set before the open, and a way to settle your body at the screen.You shape your surroundings so the new routine is the easy one, sized small enough to keep on a bad day.
MilestoneThe belief is tested, and the new routine has held for two weeks. - 03Weeks 11–16
Reinforce
Make it yours
Sessions shift to review: what held, what slipped, and what your journal shows about why. A slip is information.
You leave with your Operating Envelope: when you trade your plan, and when you don't.You leave with your Conditions Map: what sets off the old pattern, and what supports the new one.
MilestoneYou can see the pattern loading and step in before it fires.
How much do you trust yourself at the screen?How much do you trust yourself to follow through?
One number, one to ten. Set in week one and tracked the whole way. Everything else is measured against it.
- OpenCheck in on body, mind and emotion.
- ExploreWork down the layers until the driver is clear.
- Build or reviewTest a belief, design a routine, or review what held.
- CloseOne Plan of Action, small enough to keep, named by you.
Every engagement works on one pattern at a time.
Working together
- First
Clarity call
Free, 45 minutes. We look at the pattern, decide which track fits, and talk about whether working together makes sense right now.
- Then
1-on-1 coaching
Weekly 50-minute sessions across the full engagement, at your pace and as deep as you're ready to go.
- Or
Group coaching
Weekly 75-minute calls in a small cohort. A short lesson, then live coaching on one person's pattern while the group listens. Most people recognize their own in someone else's chair.
- Between sessions
The Depthwork journal
Short entries after each trade or each session: what happened, how it felt, and your Trust Score. Each session works from that record.
Short entries at the end of each day, or right after the pattern shows up: what happened, how it felt, and your Trust Score. Each session works from that record.
I'm Micah
I trade futures, and I coach. I've lived the problem this work is built for: knowing the rules and watching my hand do something else.
A coach and mentor to men and women looking for meaningful change. I've walked alongside people building the small, repeatable things: a walking routine, a gym habit, a harder conversation.
My work sits under the surface: the habits that end a feeling, the ones that chase one, and the conditions that set them off. It's practical and honest, and it starts from the fact that you already know what you're supposed to do.
We're building a self you can trust.
- Trading
- 7+ years
- Pastoral ministry
- Over a decade
- Coaching
- Day traders in options, futures and prop firms
- Coaching
- Men and women
- Approach
- Root cause, measured over time
The reflex that ends the feeling
An eight-page field guide to the execution habits that cost traders evaluations, payouts and account balances, with worksheets for your next session.
- The reflex that ends the feeling, and why it survives every promise
- A worksheet for your own mix of relief and chase
- A one-week experiment and five things to try at the desk
52 cards for the trading day. Guide readers get it first.
Draw a card for your next session. Tap it to see why it works.
A tug, and you noticed it.
Every loop earns its keep
An eight-page field guide to the habits that run your health, fitness and relationships, with a loop map, a one-week log and five things to try.
- Map one loop: the cue, what you do, what it gets you and what it costs
- A one-week log for finding which habits move together
- A one-week experiment: take one habit away and watch the pull
Start where the pattern lives.
Bring the reflex you keep repeating.
Bring the loop you keep running.
A conversation to look at the pattern, decide which track fits, and see whether now is the right time to work on it.
Book a free clarity call