5 easy Steps to Rebuild Hope When You Feel lost

During self-improvement, we hear things like motivation, productivity, and discipline. But very often we neglect the meaning of hope. We can find this powerful force within ourselves. Hope can literally be a lifesaver. It lets you continue, even in the eyes of impossibility. However, sometimes you lose hope; it will hardly come back to you alone. But there are ways you can fix your life and regain hope. Follow these five steps to rebuild hope when you feel lost.

1. Discover your emotions and feelings.

Before you can gain new hope and work again, you need to find yourself. Discovering your emotions and feelings is critical. For this, it’s no time to suppress your feelings; it’s rather time to let it all out, feel it, and accept it. But don’t let it control you; just let it exist and acknowledge it.

There are many routes to discover your emotions. First, if you can, try to meditate about them. Just sit, best in a dark room, close your eyes, and focus on your breath. Then, when you meditate for a few minutes, focus on your feelings and your worries and acknowledge that they exist. If meditations don’t work, there are more things you can do to find out.

Second, you can journal about them; write every thought down. What are you feeling? What are you worried about? Is it sadness? Could you please share what might be contributing to your feelings of hopelessness? Answer these questions on a piece of paper. Keep in mind; you have time. You don’t need to rush or worry about the process.

Emotions like pain will greatly benefit your mental health. But knowing who you are, what is to be done? You slowly start to see your issues, what feelings you have, and what they do to you. In particular, you can pinpoint the precise emotion that is affecting you, leading to a loss of hope in yourself.

2. Notice your present.

You now know your emotions, but you have to find out way more about your life. First of all, you have to find out where you are in life. The past is always moving, that is for sure. But you have to find out where you are in this moment and in the recent time. Aka the week you live in. There are many things you need to ask yourself, but after all, it takes time to find out.

You need to find out what your current status is. This includes your living situation. Where are you living right now? Do you have your own apartment— enough to live with? Are you content in this position? Do you want more? It’s not only about realizing your present environment but also noticing your thoughts about it.

After all, you also need to find out what you got in life and what is missing. Friends, Family, a Relationship, Hobbies, and goals. All these things are important, and you should write down the ones that are missing in your current state of life.

But also acknowledge the little things in your life. Things you might not notice or think are special, but that you actually could be grateful about. Someone in this world will do a lot of the things you do right now. Be it a satisfying meal or just the opportunity for growth. Acknowledge them and be grateful for them. The best thing is for you to write down a gratitude list every day. The practice will slowly change your perspective on life.

3. Accept the Past

The next step will be harder and especially more painful. You need to accept the past, whatever it was. Yes, there probably was something painful in your past, something you can’t accept and live on. At least that’s your mindset about these things. But being stuck in the past is something that will stick to you and hurt you long-term.

I experienced pain in the past—a lot of it. I have long since moved on from the bullying I endured in school. But at that time, it was painful. I found myself in an emotionally abusive relationship. In the end, I was being cheated on. The pain was the worst pain I ever felt. But I moved on; I worked on myself and became better. And I even overcame the loneliness I felt afterwards.

You might have even worse experiences, but whether you will move forward is only in your hands. However, there are methods that help you with moving on from your past. First of all, there are meditation techniques that help with moving on. I advise you to use a mantra meditation. These are specialized meditations where you say a certain mantra over and over. By repeating it, it becomes part of your identity.

Start by breathing slowly and focusing on your breath. Do these exercises for one or two minutes, then start using mantras. Focus on a specific past event that you have struggled to move on from. Use a mantra like “This pain is the past; I do not need to suffer from it” or “I accept the past is unchangeable, but the future is in my hands.” Obviously you can create your own mantras, so be creative.

Of course, you can also journal about your part. This will be a very emotional act. Do it in private, in something comfortable and calming. Maybe listen to some calming music in the background. Then just write down what troubles you about the past, what you experienced, and how you feel about it. Moving on can take time, and it requires a conscious effort. Negative thoughts will prevent this, so always think positive!

4. Acknowledge the Future

Now that you have accepted the past and know your present, it will be time to look to the future. Because that is where the hope lies, where hope can bring you. This powerful feeling will make you more powerful, more disciplined, and more enduring. First, ask yourself if you know where you want to be. What are your goals? Write them down and define them. This step will be very important.

The future is not yet set; it’s unknown where it will be. However, you can choose to believe. Such optimism is a strong force next to hope. Believing in your success will make you more motivated and disciplined. (Just don’t be blinded by belief; you still need hard work.). Whatever you do, believe in a better future.

And yet, your final goal will look so far away. It looks distant, like the stars, something you need maybe just years to reach. Success, fulfillment, happiness, a marriage, or whatever you dream of. Certain things arrive more quickly than you anticipate, while others may appear unexpectedly. Maybe you worry about finding love, but there is something you can influence about it and something you can’t influence. With hard work on charisma and with action, you can increase your chances of meeting a partner. Or your future partner will just pop into your life when you did not expect it. A thing I noticed in life is that the best things will happen when you don’t expect them. This is especially true when you are simply enjoying life. So realize where you want to be and work towards it. But also envision small goals that can be reached quickly.

5. Regain Hope

Now it’s time to use what you worked on to regain hope. A feeling you will need that helps you in your worst moments is just to continue. Even at the darkest place in your life, the light can still reach you. You just need to fight, believe, and hope.

In the greek myth of Pandora’s Box, all forms of misery were brought upon humanity. Evils that still trouble us these days. Death, misery, sin, sickness, and many other forms of pain and suffering. But at the back of the chest there was one thing remaining: it was hope. A single force that can help humanity deal with the evil of the world, that makes them keep doing even during our hardest times.

Realize that the past is now past, but the future is unknown. Why think for the worst if you can also hope for the best or just a slightly better life? There is improvement possible in the future. Sure, you might be in a bad place right now, but that’s not your forever. It can change today, tomorrow, or in one year. Wouldn’t it be worth it to grind through the pain if you could have a happy future without suffering? The pain is not your forever, except if you want it to be. Choose what you want, a better life or not. It’s in your hands.

Conclusion

Rebuilding hope isn’t about big, sudden changes—it’s about small, honest steps that bring you back to yourself. You’ve learned to name your emotions, ground yourself in the now, face what’s behind you, and reach toward what’s ahead. Each mantra you repeat, each gratitude list you write, each tiny goal you set, pulls you from the edge of despair and plants a seed of possibility. Hope isn’t a gift that just falls into your lap—it’s something you choose, day after day, action by action. Take these steps, lean into the practice, and watch your lost spark ignite again.

What to Do

✔ Meditate or journal to uncover what you’re really feeling.
✔ List today’s small blessings and note what’s missing.
✔ Use a mantra or write about your past to let it go.
✔ Define one tiny goal for tomorrow and believe it’s possible.
✔ Read your notes each morning and choose hope again.

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If you plan work on other mental health issuees, read my article about overcoming challenges. Or find out how you can handle failure in life here.

Now I want to hear from you!

What do you hope for? Do you still struggle with rebuilding hope? Write it down in the comments and let me know, when you need advice.