The Secret You Shouldn't Ignore Before 2024 Slips Away2024 is almost gone - have you unlocked the secret to shaping your future before it's too late?
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2024 is slipping away, feel it? One moment it’s New Year’s Day, full of never-ending possibilities; the next, it’s nearly gone. Time is moving too fast, and you barely catch your breath. The days rolled into weeks, weeks into months, and now 2025 is almost at your doorstep, waiting agitatedly. Before you let the entirety of 2024 pass, there is something providential that needs to be done- something that cannot be ignored- the value of reflection. We are all guilty of rushing toward something new while leaving the last year behind us as if it never happened. What if, for just a moment, we paused, clicked rewind, and processed all the 2024 had placed before us? The power that a single final breath can hold before the turn of the year in resetting the mind and energy! You don’t want to step into 2025 while still carrying the chaotic momentum with which 2024 will leave you. It’s nice to think that New Year will fix it all. But here’s the truth. How you complete 2024 will determine how well-rested you will be off to face 2025. If you left feeling disoriented, rushed, or hadn’t done what you wanted, you simply took that energy into the following year. These final moments hold your reset, clarity, and control. Ask yourself these five mind-blowing questions that will radically change the game before 2024 slips away: What habits either pushed you forward or kept you stuck in 2024?You have been on autopilot, haven’t you? How often are you caught in the same loop scenario of doing the same things repeatedly, expecting different results? Look back on the habits you instituted over the past year. Maybe you picked up something constructive, e.g. reading daily, exercising, meditating. But how many hours did you waste scrolling endlessly or procrastinating on things that mattered? This overwhelming question confronts you at the deepest level about your actions. Turn off the autopilot now. For every habit that allows you to get closer to being the person you want to be, there exists a habit that has kept you stuck in the quagmire of stagnation. What shall you let go of in 2024, and what will you hold onto as you enter 2025? What was your most brutal moment in 2024, and what did it teach you?This year has provided many of us with times that tested us at one point or another. Whether it was a personal loss, a career setback, or something completely unexpected, 2024 likely brought challenges that felt impossible. It’s easy to see those moments as nothing more than pain, but what if they were life’s way of teaching you something essential? This year’s most difficult times issued you a revelation concerning life. The job you lost? Unwittingly for the best. The personal challenges? They may have shown your true strength of character. Use these inputs as a stepping stone rather than looking back filled with regret. What did you desperately want to accomplish but never made time for?This year has undoubtedly tested each of us. Whether due to personal losses, career struggles, or something else altogether, 2024 came with impossible challenges. These situations were easy to view as painful, but what if they were an argument from the universe to teach something crucial instead? Ask yourself what lessons you learned this year during your most challenging times. That job you lost? It likely pointed you to your true calling. That personal struggle? It may have shown your real strength. It’s all about learning from your darkest hours. Take this knowledge with you into the new year, and let go of the burdens of regret. Has your idea of success shifted in the past 12 months?What on earth does success mean to you anymore? If your definition of success still consists solely of money, status, and material possessions, then examine whether it resonates with you anymore. Perhaps you’ve realised that success does not have to fit in the rigid boxes set by society. Instead, true success can be defined as happiness, peace, fulfilment, or well-being. This question is not an opportunity for introspection but an opportunity to redefine success on your terms. Has your definition of success changed since last January? If yes, what has changed? As the clock approaches 2025, make sure your view on success is rooted in what truly matters to you. What word sums up your 2024?This is what happens. Each year carries a theme, often only discernible in retrospect. When you look back, what one word keeps coming up for you? Growth, perhaps, resilience, or transformation? Or maybe something more personally relevant, like healing, adventure, or change? This word will be your key to unlocking your year. By identifying your theme word, you understand what 2024 is truly about. A simple exercise, yet it’s potent beyond the imagination. Embrace the moment it reveals itself to you, and allow that word to guide you into your next steps as you march into 2025.
The Power of Reflection: Your Path to ClarityThese five questions are more than just a retrospective exercise; they are the key to unlocking your potential in the new year-surely grounded and not scattered. If not, all that you will remember will be 2024, a vague year for all opportunities lost, but when this reflection closes for you, you shall do it with an open mind and a peaceful heart as you prepare to face the future full of purpose. Don’t step into 2025 with baggage from 2024. Use these questions to clear the fog and reset your intentions. Set sail into the new year with renewed clarity. The true gift that will pave the way for success in 2025 is not resolutions but what you learn from now. Don’t put it off. The secret that shouldn’t escape your mind and thoughts is that change can only come by stepping back and seeing. And when you do that, the future awaits. What’s your theme word for 2024? This last question isn’t just a moment of introspection; it is the lightning bolt to change everything. What one word encapsulates your journey this year? That word will act as your north star into 2025. Don’t let it pass without claiming 2024 for yourself. Take a moment, look within, and ground yourself. That way, you’ll go into 2025 purposefully like never before. As the hands of time roll, slowly but surely, the last days of 2024 slip through our fingers, they introduce a jolt, a magnetism toward much more profound significance. No matter how intensely the adrenaline-fueled ride through 2024 may have distracted you, you now find yourself before something big and crucial. It may not be about your accomplishments on New Year’s Eve; it’s about what one sets one's mind and spirit to have out of all possible 2025 offers. Take this in reflection; it is your secret weapon. Without it, the new year will pull towards you, and you may notice yourself repeating the same mistakes and feeling untethered and unsure. But wait: what if you can shut that down entirely right now? Picture being in the spring of 2025, with the awareness of where you have come from and where you are going to chase, no more scrambling. Here is what is at stake: the power to actively shape the future from what is brought to light during this moment of reflection. If it is not grasped by now, all your unresolved lessons, unhealed wounds, and mad rush left behind by 2024 will billow behind you as a bundle of pains into 2025. So, let us piece apart these questions as if they were a countdown to your next big awakening: What habits or behaviours served you this year? And which ones led you down the wrong path?Take a deep dive into your actions. Were you operating on autopilot, just getting by, or did you seize every opportunity to evolve? Which patterns catapulted you forward, and which ones dragged you back into the chaos? The answers could be the key to unlocking your full potential. What was the most challenging moment of 2024? What did you learn from it?Times it looked like you were almost about to crack? They were your best teachers. The losses, the setbacks, and the failures were all lessons in disguise. What lessons or wisdom did you learn from those struggles? That is the real power you will use in the new year. What did you want to do but never had the time for?Any moment you lived that almost broke you? The most outstanding teachers were just such moments. Losses, setbacks, failures, and regrets are all missed opportunities. What wisdom were you able to gather from those struggles? That is the true strength you will carry into the new year. Has your definition of success evolved this year?In the blink of an eye, it can all change. What was once important status, material wealth, and approval may be turned upside down. What does success mean to you now? Take back your power by rewriting your story of success! What’s your theme word for 2024?It’s not simply a phrase—the big secret of your journey—the word representing everything you’ve seen, learned, and endured. When you discover it, you’ll view the year with a new perspective. And that awareness? It will light your path for 2025. You must stop now to avoid dragging the fog of 2024 into the new year. Don’t let that unfold. What you’re looking at here in 2025 is not merely another year of survival but intentional living in abundance. Reflection right now will give insight and clarity for marching right into 2025 with laser focus, a road map, and an unstoppable psyche. If you’re reading this, you’re not just like the rest of the rushing crowd. You’re preparing for a moment of breakthrough. Take these questions with utmost seriousness, as each is a door to unlocking a version of you, one you have yet to meet. 2024 is about over, but there’s still plenty of time to make it count. The trick is all in sitting down and reflecting. Don’t let the year end without extracting every last ounce of juice from it. How you close this chapter is precisely how you open the next. Remember, this moment is, in fact, your very launching pad. What’s your theme word for 2024? And how will it shape the person you are becoming?When you look back to the various moments of the last year, they can seem so powerful. That is the story of your triumphs, failures, joys, and struggles, the medley that causes the difficulty. It is extremely valuable for you and everyone to take time to isolate those moments- to break them down so clarity can emerge from what could otherwise seem a chaotic presentation of your life experiences. Unless you nurture what you’ve learned now, the lessons will blur, and 2025 will turn into nothing gloomier than just another evolution. Before midnight on December 31st, meditate on the year that has transpired. The clarity it will bring will offer you guidance into the next phase of the journey that will make this your most impactful year yet. Above all, it begins now. The secret is to reflect simply. Make it your solid ground before moving on to 2025. You're currently a free subscriber to Life Uplift. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription.
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Thursday, December 19, 2024
The Secret You Shouldn't Ignore Before 2024 Slips Away
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Monday, December 2, 2024
New Music Roundup
Happy December, folks! It’s Advent season. That means…I’m sharing Christmas music! But more on that later. O Lord the Valley WeepsLast week, I released “O Lord the Valley Weeps,” a rootsy gospel tune with some “celtification” going on. It’s actually an old tune, circa 2012 or so, but I never did a proper release due to the quality of the original recording — the acoustic guitar and voice were recorded with one microphone, and the guitar was too loud, overpowering the vocal and making the lyrics hard to make out. But with the recent advent of A.I. stem separation, I was able to separate the vocal from the guitar and mix them separately, creating a great mix. Technology is crazy. The song itself is about how the Lord lifts up the lowly, bringing joy to those who weep, and promises good to the downtrodden. It’s inspired by the “Sermon on the Mount” — which is to say, it is preachy insofar as Jesus taught that the way to receiving these blessings was to follow Him in His lowliness, weeping, downtroddenness, etc. I have a fond memory of recording this at my old loft in Brooklyn, and showing it to my roommate Benjamin Lazar Davis (a fine songwriter himself — I vividly remember hearing him and Bridget Kearney writing Lake Street Dive’s “Rabid Animal” in our living room while I was trying to take a nap, lol) who described the tune as “triumphant". Most triumphant! Lyrics: O Lord the valley weeps, but he shall be Your mountain O lonesome widows cry for your tears are of His fountain Broken-hearted, paranoid, anger-laden, so annoyed Panic-hearted, so afraid, weak-minded, flesh-betrayed O Lord the valley weeps, but he shall be Your mountain O flesh don’t be aroused, but by the Spirit live O hands don’t close and take, but openly receive and give Hunger pains, hunger pains, lost and cold in the cold and rain Faint of heart, hard of hearing, Fading away and disappearing O flesh don’t be aroused, but by the Spirit live O Jesus from the other side I hear Your voice a-calling O Jesus, from Your heavenly throne, I hear Your voice a-calling “Everyone, everywhere, come to Me now, don’t be scared! “My Father’s house has many homes! “Walk this earth as a saint who roams!” O Jesus from the other side I hear Your voice a-calling O brothers, see that open door? A blinding light is shining O sisters can’t you see that door? A blinding light is shining Shine on me, shine on you, shine on forever — shine on through! That open door has a narrow gate Come on, now brothers don’t you be afraid! O brothers, see that open door? A blinding light is shining O Lord the valley weeps, but he shall be Your mountain O lonesome widows cry for your tears are of His fountain Broken-hearted, paranoid, anger-laden, so annoyed Panic-hearted, so afraid, weak-minded, flesh-betrayed O Lord the valley weeps, but he shall be Your mountain  You’re StupidOne of my favorite DJ’s at the Vineyard’s own WMVY, Alison Hammond, once posted about how anyone who would make fun of special needs children is “Stupid, but not in your mind — in your heart.” The song wrote itself. It ended up being about cutting off toxic relationships, that sort of thing. The second psychedelic section with the unintelligible lyrics arose spontaneously as I was tracking the demo, and I thought it very trippy and Beatles-esque so I kept it, and layered it with all sorts of synthy psych-rock fun. Lyrics: Picking up where we left off, picking off scabs we pick apart Picking up pieces of a puzzle that’s a picture of my broken heart I’ve picked my brain, and picked my side So snap a pic of this piece of my mind You’re stupid, but not in your mind, you’re stupid in your heart You’re stupid, you’re stupid Holding off from holding on, no I ain’t holding out I’m giving up on you, but I ain’t giving you ground So I take your picture off my shelf, but I’m shelving you I can’t put up with this so I’ve gotta put you down I can’t let this go on, so I gotta let it go, so let’s go now If you can’t keep up, you can’t keep me The Lord I pray my soul to keep You’re stupid, but not in your mind, you’re stupid in your heart You’re stupid, you’re stupid  Lofi Beats for Study, Dishwashing, and DanceThe story behind this 28-song release is sort of funny. I was having some issues getting my Friday tunes out on time, and I was racking my brain as to how to make it up to y’all for these late single drops. Well, wouldn’t you know it — I produce a lot of beats, and usually listen to them while I wash dishes (Santa, can I have a dishwasher machine please?). As I listened to some of my beats one night dishwashing, it occurred to me to start releasing my beats! Why not just compensate for the late singles with a 28 SONG FREAKIN’ ALBUM! The story behind the album name: I usually listen to my beats when I’m doing Bible study, dishwashing, or when we’re doing a family dance party. My daughters love these beats. I’m sure you will too! BTW there’s several more unreleased so look out for Volume 2 sometime in the future… (I’ve linked what I think should be a playlist of the whole album below, hopefully it plays through all the tunes for you)  Coming Soon: Christmas MusicStay tuned! In the coming Adventtide , I’ll be releasing Christmas music! Some classic “chestnuts” (hint hint) as well as some of my own Christmas originals. God bless and thanks for your support! Sean You're currently a free subscriber to Sean McMahon. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription.
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