2026: The Year of Being ✨Delusional✨
I read a Substack by Hannah Glenn (@hannahisspiralling) about something of a self-experiment she did in 2025, which she called a “year of delusional thinking”.
She talked about how, prior to 2025, she’d found herself sliding into a negative headspace, weighed down by self-defeat, internalised rejection and hopelessness. She told herself that the chips were stacked against her, a narrative that she subconsciously perpetuated through her actions (or lack thereof). Assuming bad things were going to happen to her and that she in some way deserved it. It’s a thing a lot of us do, I think, to cushion us from the painful feeling of real failure and rejection.
As Hannah writes, bad luck compounds on itself. If you think nothing will change, then it probably won’t – because change comes from (even the tiniest of) actions. It’s a similar concept to manifestation – creating change by putting yourself in the way of opportunity, rather than waiting for something good to fall in your lap. The more you shoot your shot, the more likely you are to get lucky. I guess taking risks is just optimising for luck. Sure, some people get stupidly lucky for no apparent reason. But most lucky people are out here shooting their shots all over the place, withstanding the inevitable rejection that comes with it, and carrying on anyway.
Observing these ‘lucky’ people in action prompted Hannah to change her mindset. She decided to don the costume of a blindly confident, AKA delusional person for a year. She ignored any indication that she was destined to fail, and instead assumed that she was destined to succeed. She pushed aside doubts and fears and instead put herself out there. She leaned into delusion to see what happened next.
It didn’t happen overnight. It was a slow process of doing things in spite of doubt or fear of judgement, of weathering rejection but still continuing to show up consistently – posting her writing, talking about it, taking risks. It wasn’t straightforward – it was a dance of forward steps and backward steps, the latter of which were hard to endure. But she kept going. The result was that she did become more successful, whatever her own metric for that is, but she also became more objective, ‘got over herself’, and was able to be more flexible in her approach to things.
This resonated with me hard. I realised that, this year, I want to get into the mind of a delusional person. I want to actively chase rejection. Even if it leads to nothing, if nothing else, rejection means I tried.
I do think you get more used to rejection the more you encounter it. I think I spent a lot of my life avoiding rejection in various ways that I’ve become a bit sensitive to it. I want to grow a thicker skin and shoot my shot despite the risk of failure or rejection. Let’s be real though – rejection does suck. Guaranteed there will be days I feel like dog shit and want to give up. But if I can withstand that this year and continue to try… well, maybe that in itself is the point.
Like everything, there are caveats to this. Sometimes life throws us curveballs that we have to deal with. Sometimes we have to rest. Other times, we have to rally – this feels like one of those times. I wrote a post about the balance of rally and rest, which you can find here if you’re interested. I’m lucky enough to be in a place in my life that I CAN take a lot of risks. I wasn’t in a position to do this – nor was I ready to – even a few years ago. Timing has a much bigger part to play in life than we realise.
Anyway, I’ve already been having fun with delusion this week. I’ve been catching myself and thinking: “What would a delusional person think about this? What would a delusional person do here?” It’s funny, but this reframe has already made me feel so much lighter. I thought about my year ahead and determined that a delusional person would:
Post about their art (and themselves) online, even if they think it’s not good or that nobody cares. They assume that people like their art and want to hear about their personal process.
Share their writing with others because they know it’s the only way to grow in that area. They also assume that people will enjoy reading and sharing their thoughts on it.
Apply for jobs and volunteering positions even if they’re not likely to get it, assuming that eventually they will get a break and that it’s ‘what’s meant to be’.
Book the trip or buy the thing without worrying too much about money, confident that they’ve saved up enough and that they’re smart enough to manage their finances and figure it out.
Assume moving countries for a year without a plan is an overwhelmingly positive thing and the best thing they’ll ever do.
Assume that their upcoming wedding is going to be AMAZING.
Turn up to social events with new people assuming everybody is happy to see them and that anybody could be a potential friend – that they will make friends this year.
Assume that all the upcoming travel is going to be absolutely fine! Lovely, even!
So, let this be my experimental year of ✨delusional thinking✨, of flinging myself into the path of opportunity (work, social and hobby-wise). I don’t need to become a full-time artist or bestselling author or become chair of the UN. It’s more about challenging myself, figuring out what works, learning and growing. I think for me, that’s success.
I’m very curious to see how this year pans out!