Christian Ray Flores here, after spending a blissful day off making music. About that in later in this post.
last chance to join the workshop.
Honest question: why would your 2026 be any better than 2025?
Hope isn’t really an answer. Waiting rarely changes anything.
A strategy does.
I’ve never done this before, but as a thank-you to my subscribers, I’m giving away a few $100 passes to my Passion to Profit Lab for free.
If you’re an expert who’s been meaning to build a real personal brand online—and actually turn it into income—this is for you.
We’ll spend two focused hours building your personal brand together, live.
👉 Want to claim a free pass? Click here.
If you see a registration page, it means free spots are still available—grab your seat.
latest pod
My Wednesday post about Imposter Syndrome had the highest open rate in a while, so I recorded a pod about it unpacking ways I deal with it in more detail. Send it to a friend who needs to hear it.
making space for the music
Deep thinking is underrated.
The holidays are one of the few times left in the year where the world naturally slows down. Fewer meetings. Fewer expectations. More space.
A rare window.
Instead of letting this time dissolve into noise, busyness, and consumption, I suggest we use this slowdown to ask a better question:
How do I make 2026 a quantum leap from 2025—on purpose?
I haven’t released music in five years. That still surprises me.
Before that, I spent years entertaining millions of people. Music gave me a life most people only imagine. But after a lot of deep thinking, I moved on.
I listed the long-term pros and cons. I looked honestly at my values. I asked where staying would actually lead.
It wasn’t aligned.
I’ve thanked God many times for giving me the courage to make that leap. The life I have now fits my values far better than the one I left behind.
But here’s something I hadn’t really examined until recently:
Why did I stop making music for fun?
Part of the answer is uncomfortable: I’m a snob.
After working with world-class musicians, studios, and producers, it’s hard to sit in a home office, record something basic, and feel satisfied. Once your taste level rises, “good enough” stops being good enough.
Then the holidays came.
I’ve been quietly watching AI tools for music creation for a while. Not hyped. Just paying attention. And I realized the technology has crossed a line.
It can now replace about 80% of the reasons I stopped creating.
So I asked my wife and daughters for a Christmas gift: a subscription to a music creation AI platform.
During this slower season, I’ll experiment and play. I’ll find a rhythm that doesn’t interfere with my work—and still satisfies the musical snob in me.
The technology gives me flexibility, speed, and a level of excellence that lets my imagination fly again.
That period of deep thinking just reintroduced joy I didn’t realize I’d put on hold—and it’s shaping how I think about 2026.
I’m sharing this because the holidays can easily become a blur of consumption, busyness, and low-grade anxiety.
But they can also be a strategic pause.
Time to think clearly.
To reassess.
To make intentional decisions about what stays, what goes, and what gets re-entered—differently.
Most people don’t need more motivation.
They need space to think.
There are many ways to do that. Conversations. Journaling. Walking. Prayer. Strategy sessions. Even structured environments like Passion to Profit Lab—which is simply one way I help people create that kind of clarity.