Wellness Correlation: How Sleep & Exercise Affect Your Trading
The link between physical wellness and cognitive performance is well-established in research. But most traders treat their health as separate from their trading. Wellness correlation analysis in Practice—Process connects the two, showing you exactly how sleep, exercise, and stress levels influence your results.
Tracking Wellness Data
Each session, Practice—Process prompts you to log:
These data points take seconds to log but build a powerful dataset over time.
The Correlation Dashboard
The wellness correlation dashboard displays scatter plots and correlation coefficients between each wellness metric and your trading outcomes. Key views include:
Sleep vs Performance
This chart plots your sleep quality or hours against daily P&L or average R-multiple. Most traders discover a clear relationship:
| Sleep Hours | Typical Impact | |-------------|---------------| | Under 5 | Significantly impaired decision-making | | 5-6 | Below-average performance | | 7-8 | Optimal performance zone | | Over 9 | Slight decline (possible oversleeping) |
The correlation coefficient tells you how strong this relationship is for your specific data. Anything above 0.3 is noteworthy; above 0.5 is a strong signal worth acting on.
Exercise vs Performance
Traders who exercise on trading days often show:
The dashboard compares your performance metrics on exercise days versus non-exercise days with statistical significance testing.
Stress vs Performance
Elevated stress correlates with:
The Wellness Impact Score
Practice—Process calculates a composite Wellness Impact Score that weights each factor by its correlation strength with your specific results. This score ranges from 0 to 100:
| Score | Meaning | |-------|---------| | 80-100 | Optimal state for trading | | 60-79 | Adequate—trade with normal rules | | 40-59 | Suboptimal—consider reducing size | | Below 40 | High risk of poor decisions—skip the session |
The score appears on your session dashboard as a simple indicator, giving you an immediate sense of whether today is a day to trade aggressively, cautiously, or not at all.
Radar Chart Visualisation
The wellness radar chart displays all five metrics simultaneously, overlaid with your average performance correlation for each. This creates a visual fingerprint of your optimal trading state:
Building Your Wellness Protocol
Based on your correlation data, build a non-negotiable wellness protocol:
Pre-Market Routine
1. Log your sleep and wellness metrics 2. Check your Wellness Impact Score 3. If below your threshold, adjust your trading plan:
Minimum Standards
Define your personal minimums for trading:
Long-Term Improvements
The correlation data motivates lifestyle changes that pay dividends in trading:
The Data Makes It Real
Traders intellectually understand that wellness affects performance. But seeing the correlation coefficient between your sleep quality and your P&L—with your own data—transforms abstract knowledge into actionable conviction. Let the numbers speak for themselves.