7 Ways To Stay Positive When You’ve Had A Hard Year

I love the energy that a new year brings. The year before you is full of possibilities as you start planning your goals, trips you want to take, events you want to go to, etc.. You have no idea what is to come, but you’re excited to find out. What happens when your expectations crumble as life serves you blow after blow throughout the year? How do you stay positive for the next year after that?

That is the situation I’m finding myself in right now. What was supposed to be a year full of fun memories and progress with my health ended up being a year full of boredom, worsening health, and a lot of loss. Despite all of that, I still want to be optimistic about what 2026 could offer. 

How To Stay Positive When You’ve Had A Hard Year

This is my gameplan/hacks that I’m using to stay positive for a new year. Maybe these can help you as well? Whether you’ve also had a hard year, or just don’t feel excited about a new year in general, we are in this together.

1) Reflect On The Glimmers From This Year

This year may not have been the best, but it couldn’t have been all bad. Even if the highlight of your year was that you spent more time with your family, started prioritizing your health, or went to a local concert over the summer, those are still things to celebrate.

Society tends to glamorize all the big moments. Don’t get me wrong, promotions, new relationships, buying a house, etc. are amazing things to celebrate. However, the small moments, aka the glimmers, are important also.

2) Have Something To Look Forward To

Looking back isn’t the only thing you should be doing. Another way to stay positive is to have something to look forward to. This can be anything from a vacation, a new tattoo, visiting a friend you haven’t seen in a while, etc.. Think of something that makes you happy. What can you focus on when you are going through tough times? Once you have an idea, start planning. 

I’d recommend planning whatever it is in the months of April through June. That way you have a little time to get there and get excited for it, but if something falls through you have time to still plan something fun for the last half of the year.

3) Strengthen Your Faith/Find Something That Grounds You

This year I haven’t been prioritizing my faith. I think that has definitely caused my gray skies to darken throughout the tough times. Having something that grounds you and gives you peace is more important in your day to day life than I realize sometimes.

Whether that is praying, meditating, or even journaling depends on you. Find whatever gives you that peace and helps you stay positive when everything in your life is chaotic/wrong. I plan on strengthening my faith in the new year by reading my Bible and praying regularly. 

4) Think Of How Much Good Can Happen In A Year (based on prior years)

Sometimes when reflecting you need to go back even further. If this year wasn’t your year, try looking back on the years prior. Some years are better than others.

By reflecting on the years that you thrived it will give you hope that good things can happen again. Life isn’t all good, or all bad. You’ve been down right now, which means it’s time for a breakthrough to happen. 

For example, there was one year where I went on two trips to meet up with friends, got my first tattoo, and a few other cool moments. If all that can happen in one year, I can have a good year like that again. Life is unpredictable, in order to get through the bad sometimes you have to focus on the good that has happened.

5) Romanticize End Of Year/Beginning Of Year Planning

Another way to get the positive vibes moving is to put a little extra flair and time into mundane activities. You could get a pen and journal out and start writing about how your year went.

Or, you could make a cute charcuterie board, light a candle, and put on a playlist of all your favorite music from this year and grab the notebook and pen. Which one sounds more fulfilling and fun? Do the same for your beginning of the year planning/vision board making to bring the positive vibes into the new year.

6) Get Rid Of The Bad Vibes From This Year to Stay Positive

If you are more of a visual person, having some way of getting rid of the bad memories/vibes from the year could be good for you. Whether that’s tearing up photos, notes, documents, etc., or journaling out everything bad that happened and then burning the page, there are several ways to do this. Get as creative, or as simple as you’d like.

7) Lean On Your Support System

Lastly, one of the best ways to stay positive going into a new year is to lean on your support system. Most likely they’ll know what you’ve been going through and would be willing to help any way that they can.

Open up to them and let them know what you need. Whether you need a chill hang out session where you all make vision boards and make plans, or just need someone to vent to, tell them what’s on your mind. 

Final Thoughts on Staying Positive When You’ve Had a Hard Year

I’m already thinking of how I want to implement some of these. If you’ve had a hard year I’d highly suggest you try one, or more of these as well. Together we can hope for, and create a better year for ourselves.

I’m hoping that by trying these tips I’ll be in a better mindset when looking towards 2026. Let me know if this helps you as well.

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