President Barack Obama says he’s not brooding about 2013, despite a series of setbacks.

The president said at a year-end news conference from the White House Friday that as long as the economy is improving and he’s helping families, he’s OK.

Obama’s approval rating has been at record lows recently. But he joked that in the seven years since he launched his presidential campaign, the media has, quote, “recorded 15 near-death experiences.”

He acknowledged frustration that he didn’t get the legislative reforms he wanted, specifically mentioning gun control and immigration. And he said his health care law hasn’t worked the way it should have.

But he said he’s going to keep working on his agenda and predicted 2014 would be “a breakthrough year for America.”

(AP)