profile

Jose Antonio Morales

"Identifying your core values - Lincoln Island's Journey - Newsletter 01"

Published over 2 years ago • 4 min read

Monday 11, October, 2021.

Oh yes, we did it!

We have been working for the past weeks on a present for you. Thankfully, it is not a new pair of socks. Crafting it has been a distillation process, and we hope our work inspires your imagination, challenges your views, and opens new opportunities.

This message is the present, and we sincerely hope it will not disappoint too much.

Jose & Jernej


For the past few weeks, my two sons have been experiencing issues with anxiety, an uncomfortable situation that is annoyingly common these days among teenagers. During our conversations, we have seen that a few ideas are recurring: a lack of Purpose and a strong belief or identification with what they think.

Obviously, we all dislike the feeling of anxiety, and we'd do everything we can to avoid it. In other words, we resist our emotions and stop listening to what our feelings are trying to say. "How do I stop feeling anxious?" is the first Google query; we are straight looking for a solution to the symptom. Why not ask what causes anxiety?

That makes me remember what happens with my garden hose way too often:

I usually find time to water my plants at the end of the day, I love doing it, so I take my time. But when I'm finished, I see the sky is getting dark, dinner is waiting for me, or someone needs my attention. All that comes perfect, because genuinely, I'm not too fond of rolling the hose. I think, "I'll leave it there, and tomorrow I will fix the mess." What happens after is something like that:
As usual, the following days are busy, the weather is a disaster, and I do not go out to my garden. A few days later, I see the grass grew wildly with all that rain, and I feel the rush to mow the lawn.
That's when I see the hose I left days before, all swirled up, wet, and muddy. I convinced myself to continue mowing and avoiding that section. It gets late, and you know the story, I leave the mess for the next day.
A couple of weeks later, the hose is still there, and now there are a few mole's mountains adding to calamity. After removing and rolling the hose, I have an entire yard section with damaged grass, uneven and filled with slugs.

The story paints it clear: At the urgency of the circumstances, our minds make us blind to the obstacles we put to ourselves; after a while, they grow until they become impossible to avoid. At the time of fixing them, we may forget how these problems originated.

"Do not trust fully on your thinking process; it is often biased and incomplete. Nurture your intuition and always listen to your emotions. Balancing rationality with your emotions sounds like a good idea."

Anxiety is experiencing a pessimistic view of the future in advance, and it comes from firmly believing in that thought: If I think and believe there is no future for humankind, I will feel and act as if that is true. My thoughts were probably trying to say something different: You feel bad if the world keeps like it is today, you care about making life viable and enjoyable.

I use my Purpose as a tool to balance how I feel. When I make a seemingly rational decision and feel something is missing, I know that decision isn't aligned with my Purpose. I'll feel double bad if that decision is proven wrong.

But before finding your Purpose, you need to identify your core values and see how they connect with your day-to-day, you need to find your Vision of Present, and together with Jernej, we prepared the Vision of Present Canvas 2021!

Watch the video

Watch the video - Download the Canvas

In general, when I feel good about my decisions, I get a positive attitude, and even if I find I made the wrong choice, I don’t feel like I lost much time or energy. “Doing” stuff with the right attitude increases my chances of making something good. In the case of the hose, I felt bad to let it there unrolled. In contrast, if I rolled it just after finishing using it, I would feel great, and no further problems would be created.

  1. Do you recognize obstacles you created in the past and today limit your potential?
  2. Do you claim responsibility for solving the obstacles, or do you get stuck trying to find guilt in others?
  3. Do you value differently what your intuition says vs. what your rational mind says?

Although I dislike the suffering that my sons' experience with their episodes of anxiety, the process is helping them to know themselves deeply at an early age. Is our youth going through an accelerated process of personal development?


Quote from the Fear Enough Book

“Think of psychological fear as old and scratched sunglasses that no longer protect you from the sun's rays. They limit your ability to see.
Now, if you think of psychological fears as limitations, you'll probably agree with me:
"Personal and collective psychological fears are the main reason we find it tough to be creative, inventive, imaginative, and innovative. To individuals, psychological fears hide in our personality, and to collectives in their culture.”

We will be sharing more from Fear Enough in our Discord Community Server and on the coming newsletters..


Miscellanea

These are a few interesting tools I found recently:

  • Exploding Topics will show you some topics that are becoming popular. That’s useful for writing blogs or social media posts.
  • Copy.ai - OMG, AI can sometimes surprise you. A great tool to help you write texts for landing pages.

If you haven't registered to our Discord Community Server, you can do it by clicking here. That invitation link will expire in 7 days. There you will find the resources we share here, links, etc.


What's coming in the following newsletter?

Marina Markezic - Linkedin Domen Kert - Linkedin

First, expect two interviews, with Marina and Domen. You will read and listen to their stories on entrepreneurship, Purpose, and some legal aspects essential to consider to anyone interested in the Blockchain.

Second, we'll share with you a new canvas: The Undictionary! It is a tool that can add a level to your communication skills and even can be adapted for your team to align.

Third, after producing this newsletter we found that a Purpose Canvas is a must. It should come from idea to reality pretty soon.

Congratulations!

We sincerely hope you liked our first step, this newsletter should be the begining of an interesting journey.

Feel free to share this message with anyone you think can benefit from it. We'd love to see our community growing: www.lincolnisland.com

Wishing you a positive week,

Jose & Jernej.

Jose Antonio Morales

Seasoned IT pro turned Social Entrepreneur and currently integrating into the creator's economy—author of Fear Enough, Deconstructing Fear and Understanding Failure. I'm the founder of Aurora Coworking and a firm believer in the power of freedom! Check it out: www.fearenough.com

Read more from Jose Antonio Morales

February 21, 2024. Dear Reader, A couple of days ago, I had a conversation with a dear friend where we explored happiness and success. From our conversation, I worked on writing an article that could be relevant to entrepreneurs and independent people like you. In the journey of entrepreneurship, we often equate success with milestones and metrics—funding rounds, market shares, and profitability. But at what point in this journey do we pause and recognize that perhaps, our understanding of...

about 2 months ago • 3 min read
The new year starts tomorrow

December 12, 2023. Dear Reader, I have been scanning the internet for information that leads me to build an accurate base for predicting the coming year,2024. I checked from scientists, economists, astrologists, and pundits of all kinds. What I found is shocking! A new year starts every day. From a personal perspective, in 2024, the potential for suffering, having painful experiences, and getting stuck will increase compared to the last few years. Unless... ...You pause, reflect on your old...

4 months ago • 2 min read

December 12, 2023. Dear Reader, I must confess that I forgot to send you the newsletter at the end of November. So, I'll try to make this one value for two! November and December in one. I hope you like it. Thanks to Aljaž Primožič and Davorin Kuhar for the conversations that inspired this article. Empowered entrepreneurs feel happy with their professional lives, according to Firefly AI. Do you know what you are good at? When I was about to celebrate my 40th birthday, I wasn't sure if I was...

4 months ago • 2 min read
Share this post