Since individual investors using this strategy must wait 30 days before repurchasing any stock sold at a loss to avoid triggering the wash sale rule, these stocks can decline in December and rise in January.

FORBES: Why There May Be A January Effect For Large-Cap Stocks

Others tend to see their goals as opportunities to avoid loss and to stay safe.

FORBES: Use Motivational Fit to Market Products and Ideas

When an entity shifts focus from how to change and grow to how to avoid loss, at that moment it begins to die.

FORBES: How To Succeed: 1 Critical Lesson From Those Who Failed