Although people love to write and talk about the positive aspects of an upcoming new year, I want to focus on the anticipated and unknown struggles of 2011. Don’t be so overly optimistic about the new year that you avoid thinking about how challenging of a year 2011 can be and/or will be for you. While there is certainly nothing wrong with thinking positively about 2011, I just want you to know that we are not about to witness a transition to a new Utopian epoch. You are going to have to deal with some of the problems you faced in 2010 in 2011. What you should be thinking about is how you are going to address those problems in 2011. Think about how you are going to conquer the challenges that still linger on from 2010. Are you going to avoid those challenges, run from them, or face them head on?
Will you simply give up on life if someone close to you dies in 2011? Have you given this question any thought? Although you may not necessarily know how you will really react until something like this happens, you should at least give this question some serious thought because it could happen. You should have plans in place to respond to the unexpected death of a person who you are close to. If you don’t have a living will prepared, then let 2011 be the year that you construct one. If you don’t have life and health insurance, let 2011 be the year that you obtain these essential forms of insurance (if you can).
Learn to embrace the struggles you are facing in your life. Everybody is facing struggles. In 2011, don’t try to hide the fact that you are facing struggles. When you attempt to hide the struggles you are facing, you are not being real with yourself. When you are not being real with yourself, you are not being yourself.
If you have dreams of doing great things this year, don’t simply talk and write about them—go out and make them happen. When you know that you are not well-suited for what you are longing to be, then you need to come to the realization that your destiny and greatness is in an area where you have some natural talent.
Some people will dream all of their lives but there comes a point when you are going to have to do more than dream—you are going to need to go out and act! Yes, dreams and visions are important but they demand that we act passionately on them. Your dreams and visions are going to cause you great struggles, but if your dreams and visions don’t come with great struggles, then they are really too small. Your greatness is going to come with great struggles.
I want this year to be your greatest year, but for this year to be your greatest you are going to have to get real with yourself. You are going to have to be willing to suffer through the struggles that are going to come on the road to your destiny. This is a year where you are going to see more and more that you will never reach your greatness until you learn to be yourself. When you have a strong commitment to being yourself, you will find that your road to greatness will be much easier to drive on. Have a happy new year!
Antonio Maurice Daniels
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Revolutionary Paideia 
This was a great post to kick off the new year. I think people go into each year unrealistic expectations. I don’t mind the optimism, at times it can be cute but like you said there comes a point when you have to be real with yourself. For some reason I couldn’t wait for the new year to begin. I always think it depends on the momentum going into it too. Gotta know some years are going to be bad, alright, good, decent and great. Here’s hoping for a great year for the both of us man!
@Drew: I have great faith that 2011 is going to be a great year for both of us! Happy New Year!
Truly a great post for the New Year..You don’t candy coat a thing…Very well said most people set themselves up for failure by not setting realistic and achievable goals and then failing to actually walk the talk and remembering it takes effort…
@prettyprimal: When things are candy coated for people, they never have a chance to progress. People must experience the pure, unadulterated truth. I wanted this post to serve as a wake up call for many people who sleepwalk into a new year and think that something magical is going to happen to them just because the year changes. Yes, something magical can help to them, but it is going to take a change in their thoughts and actions for this magical occurrence to happen. People can set very high goals but they must understand that their goals must be realistic and achievable. They must “actually walk the talk.” I very much appreciate you for reading and your response. Happy New Year!
I have read & admired your writing from afar…I will continue lurking on the sidelines..The “truth” is something that many profess to want but few actually care to hear…The truth shall set them free and allow them to progress in a productive forward motion….2011 will find me believing in magical moments filled with effort & hard work, all dreams take work to achieve, nothing of value is easily attained…Happy 2011 for it will be filled with struggles & triumphs for us all….Keep up the great writing, it’s a breath of fresh air…
@prettyprimal: Thank you so much!