How to Prepare Yourself to Welcome the New Year

It starts with deep cleaning.

Photo by ochimax studio on Unsplash

Year 2022 is coming to an end. Twenty-six days left, to be exact. How would you like to spend these remaining days?

There may be a lot of holiday parties you are invited to.  There is nothing wrong with saying farewell to the passing year with your friends. 

If you want to welcome and head start a fresh year 2023 come in January, however, why not spending a few days in December to prepare yourself for that head start?


In Japan, Christmas is not even a national holiday.  I used to go to work on Christmas Day.  The largest holiday is the New Year’s, and in order to welcome the New Year, people spend extra time to deep clean everything at the end of December.  They call the deep cleaning “Oo Soji” (大掃除).  It’s been 28 years since I moved to Seattle from Japan, but I still continue this deep cleaning custom to mentally prepare myself to welcome the New Year.

My focus on this deep cleaning is to take a closer look at each space and get rid of things I don’t need.  In the drawers, in the closet, on the bookshelf… I go each space one by one.  I find things I had thought I might need later, but I ended up not using anyway.  Do I really need it in the future?  Not quite. Then toss it!

This simple process of tossing things methodically, is quite meditative.  Not only getting rid of things physically, I feel I’m emptying my mind.  Clearing out my mental clutter. 

Once I toss out things I don’t need, I now find enough empty space in each drawer, closet, and shelf.  When the new year comes, I’m prepared to fill in such empty space with brand new items. 

Just like I emptied the physical space, I feel as if I have created empty space in my mind, ready to welcome whatever comes the next year. 


Maybe you need only a few extra hours.  Or a coupe days.  How about spending some time in December to prepare yourself? Make empty space physically and mentally to welcome the brand new year?