What to Do If 2025 Wasn’t Your Year: A Love Letter to Black Girls Resetting for 2026

Sis, breathe.

If 2025 didn’t unfold the way you hoped, if the job didn’t come through, the relationship didn’t sustain, the money got funny, the body got tired, the community felt heavy, you’re not alone. This year asked a lot of us. Black women navigated so much: showing up for family and friends even when our own cup felt bone dry; fighting through burnout while still being “the reliable one”; advocating for safety, equity, and respect, in our workplaces, classrooms, organizations, and homes. Many of us carried grief and joy at the same time. We pushed ideas forward with limited resources, and we extended grace where the world didn’t. That’s a lot.

But here’s the truth: a tough year doesn’t define your worth. Your brilliance, tenderness, and courage are still intact. Your capacity to try again is still yours. And the new year isn’t a rescue; it’s a reset, an invitation to choose yourself—with intention, compassion, and a plan that actually honors your limits and your dreams.

Let’s make 2026 the year you move with peace, strategy, and joy. Below is a gentle roadmap with ten tips to help you prepare. Think of it as your soft start.

1) Give Yourself Permission to Feel Everything (Then Put It Down)

You are allowed to be disappointed. You are allowed to be proud. You are allowed to grieve the version of the year you imagined and still celebrate the moments that did carry you.

Try this:
Set a 20-minute timer. Write down everything 2025 brought.. losses, lessons, little wins. Circle three truths you want to carry forward. Draw a line through what you’re releasing. Say out loud: I can put this down and still be whole.

2) Rename the Year: From “Failure” to “Foundation”

Sometimes what feels like a setback is really the scaffolding. Closed doors saved your time; detours gave you data. What you learned is the blueprint.

Try this:
Write three skills you built this year. Whether it was resilience, budgeting, boundary-setting, leadership.. Note where each skill will serve you next. Create a “Foundation Wins” list and save it as your phone lock screen.

3) Set Intentions That Center How You Want to Feel

Resolutions can be rigid; intentions are values in motion. Think beyond outcomes—focus on feeling states that guide your decisions.

Try this:
Choose three core feelings for 2026, like peaceful, paid, loved. For each feeling, list two practices that nurture it. For example: peaceful might mean a 10-minute morning stretch and saying “no” without apology.

4) Create a 12-Week Starter Plan

Long timelines are overwhelming. Twelve weeks is long enough to make real progress and short enough to adjust.

Try this:
Pick one theme per month for the first quarter. Will it be career, health, money? Choose one key outcome per month, like updating your resume or saving $500. Break it down into weekly micro-steps.

5) Rebuild Your Boundaries and Make Them Visible

Boundaries aren’t about walls; they’re about clarity. The people who love you will adjust.

Try this:
Write your non-negotiables for 2026! No calls after 9 PM, no unpaid work, no reshuffling your rest. Add a simple autoresponder or calendar block: “I respond within 48 hours.”

6) Nourish Your Body Without Punishment

You deserve to feel well without turning your body into a project. Move for joy, eat for energy, rest for repair.

Try this:
Build a three-times-a-week movement ritual! Walking, dancing, yoga, lifting. Keep it playful. Protect your sleep like your bag depends on it.

7) Secure Your Bag Sustainably

Financial stability is self-care. You can be ambitious and gentle at the same time.

Try this:
Schedule a monthly money date to review spending and savings goals. If possible, set up automatic transfers to a peace fund. Explore one new income stream that aligns with your gifts.

8) Curate Your Circle and Your Inputs

Community is medicine, and what you consume shapes how you feel.

Try this:
Map your core four: the people you can call for truth, laughter, prayer, and strategy. Audit your feeds and mute anything that breeds comparison.

9) Take Solo Time Seriously

Make solitude sacred. Whether it’s a solo travel weekend, a museum date with yourself, or a long lunch and a book, time alone refills your spirit and sharpens your sense of self.

Try this:
Plan a quarterly solo day with no obligations, just you. Book a local staycation or a day trip by train. Try artist dates: two hours with something that inspires you; gallery, plant shop, new class, concert, library.

10) Practice Joy on Purpose

Joy isn’t a reward; it’s a practice. Make it measurable and light.

Try this:
Keep a daily delight list; write one joyful thing a day. Build a playlist for your morning commute or evening wind-down. Celebrate tiny wins.

And again,

If the year hurt, let it teach, but not lead. We saw a lot this year. Some of us held steady through microaggressions and misrecognition. Some navigated healthcare hurdles and caregiving realities. Some confronted community harm, policy shifts, and economics that didn’t keep pace with our needs. And still—we created, we organized, we laughed, we braided hair and stories, we kept showing up.

Remember:
You are not late.
You are not behind.
You are becoming.. bravely, beautifully, and at your own pace.

Here’s to 2026: more rest, more money, more love, more laughter, more “I said what I said.” And here’s to solo dates, plane tickets, long walks, clean kitchens, clear calendars, and loud joy. You’ve got this, and we’ve got you.