I just can’t seem to accept uncertainty and risk. What can I do?

​I'll try to give you a few things to think about, but unless you can overcome your inability to accept risk, you don't have much of a chance to make it as a trader.

Trading and risk are virtually one and the same. Shorter term trading isn't about using a buy-and-hold strategy, and minimizing risk by holding on for the long-term. Short-term traders capitalize on volatility and the fact that volatility produces short-term swings. Prices fluctuate rapidly. Trading is risky and what will happen in the short-term is uncertain because the moves are not based on anything fundamental.

Being human and probably having been burned a few times by the markets, we have a natural and powerful aversion to risk, however. It is usually easier to take a win, although some traders, out of greed, find that hard to do. But when it comes to taking a loss, most traders hesitate. They don't like accepting a loss and will do anything to avoid taking one. They will hang on giving the trade more time and more room in the hopes of avoiding a loss. Even losses continue to mount traders will rationalize that they should stay in.

Yet, in their hearts traders know that they must minimize risk. It's the only way a trader can survive. There are lots of things that can go against your trading plan, and unless you protect yourself, you run the risk of taking huge hits to your account, and this makes you even more risk averse.

The possibility of losing money is difficult for most people to accept, but winning traders don't let this tendency interfere with their ability to make money. They protect their assets as much as possible, and once they know they have done everything possible, they can relax and go on about the business of trading. By accepting risk and uncertainty, you can trade profitably.