Each new year brings new hardships and new opportunities. I’ve recently heard many people express their relief that 2014 has ended. At first I was inclined to join them. This was a difficult year for me in many ways and when I look back, the bad things tend to stand out more than the rest.

But in many ways, 2014 was also a very good year for me. There were plenty of professional and personal achievements this year, as well as fun times with friends and family, yet these things seem less distinct to me that the hard times. How often do our reflections take the good things into account? It seems like looking forward is always through a positive lens and looking back is through a negative lens.

Then again, don’t we grow and learn from hardships? Isn’t it the difficult times that build character and perseverance and motivate us to try harder next time? I don’t know many people who succeeded without failing first. It’s life’s hardships that give us the education and motivation to build future success.

At the very beginning of 2015 my perspective is this; yes 2014 was a hard year, but I’m going to learn from each hard lesson and use them to fuel education and motivation for the coming year.

We don’t know what the future has in store for us, but if we make a solid plan with realistic goals we are in much better position to shape our future. We are always on the threshold of our own futures, but on New Years day it is more obvious than ever that the future begins now!

This post originally appeared on the Magnetic Blog.