"More traders have ended their careers on the first trading day in January than on any other day. ... And January as a whole has double the incidents of traders busting out as any other single month."
Ray Cahnman, quoted in "When Supertraders Meet Kryptonite".

If you don't know who Ray Cahnman is, you should Google him. He's probably mentored as many successful traders as anyone in the business. I cleared my trades through his firm, and he was influential in my early development as a floor trader.

I witnessed the "January effect" every year I was on the floor at the CBOT. The ambition to really do well in the new year influences traders to be over aggressive, including traders who have been around long enough to know better. Not only are these influences creeping around in the back of your own mind, your competitors are experiencing them too, and subjectively I'd say it influences the markets.

If you find yourself really chomping at the bits to dive in next week, sit back, carefully review your methodology, and resolve to be even more disciplined than normal about sticking to the set ups that work for you. The first week of January is no time to experiment with new ideas or to increase the size you trade.

Best wishes for the New Year!