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You’d think that, since I wear a shirt that says Do Epic Shit, that I’d wouldn’t have any qualms about the motto. And you’d be wrong.
I was reminded about what I don’t like about it this last weekend and I wanted to share it with you. I felt like video blogging it, too, so it’s a video. I didn’t have a headset and/or good recording equipment and my Macbook decided it was fan-party time, so sorry about the fan – you can still hear me clearly.
Video not your thing? [DDET (Click here to read the transcript.)]
Hey party people! This is Charlie Gilkey and today I’m going to talk about what I don’t like about the motto, “Do Epic Shit.”
You might notice that I’m neither in my home office nor in our downtown office. I’m actually in North Carolina waiting on a hurricane to hit us. So, in the meantime, I wanted to share this story with you.
I was recently in Mexico talking to some of the participants of Jonathan Fields’ Good Life Project mastermind and these are really great people. One of them – who’s also a former client – has done really phenomenal things this year. She has finished her book, she’s been to Europe multiple times, she’s done a lot of business development, and she’s just done an awesome job.
But she’s tired and she needs to rest.
But she has firing off in her brain that she has to Do Epic Shit, not understanding that it’s an instrumental thing and it’s not something that you can do long-term. It’s something that you do in spurts – it’s a sprint. (Note: I’ve also written that’s about thinking big and acting small.)
And there’s also something else to think about here: there are two journeys. There is the inner journey and the outer journey. Inner journey, outer journey. Some of the most epic things that you can do come from really rocking the inner journey and doing the self-work.
It reminds me of a verse from the Tao Te Ching:
He who masters others, I call strong. He who masters self, I call powerful.”
This inner journey is so important.
Mastering yourself could be knowing when to ask for help and knowing that you’re not weak.
It could be knowing when you need to take a break and rest.
It could be knowing when to say no to others so you can say yes to yourself.
It could be knowing that you’re doing something externally that doesn’t align without yourself internally.
That inner journey is such a powerful piece of doing great things in the world – of doing epic shit. You can’t discount it and it’s harder in a lot of ways. Once you get your inner resources in alignment and get clear what needs to happen, it’s actually just a matter of taking steps day in and day out to do the epic shit.
But if you don’t have your internal resources going for you, it’s really hard to do and, fundamentally, if it’s not in alignment, even when you do accomplish those great things, it doesn’t register and it doesn’t feel right.
So, the two things I don’t like about the Do Epic Shit motto:
- It has us place a bunch of striving out there in the world and you always have to do something. That’s unsustainable.
- We often do think of the external things and not the internal things.
If you’re ever feeling tired or you feel that that particular motto is not working for you, understand that there are many interpretations of it and that you are more powerful than a motto. You are more than a motto. Really sink in, ask for what you need, and then do it.
I’m Charlie Gilkey from Productive Flourishing, waiting on a hurricane, and this “what I don’t like about the Do Epic Shit Motto.” Take it easy, guys.[/DDET]
We all view the world through our own filters. If one of our filters is “am I doing something epic?” than anytime we’re not, we think we’ve fallen short. I have/had a filter of “is this productive?” So, anytime I wasn’t doing something that moved my business forward, I felt like I was slacking off. Which resulted in burn out, frustration etc. Sometimes we need to tweak the question. Instead of “Am I doing something epic” or “Is this productive” – it becomes “Does this support being epic” or “does this support being productive.” The slight tweak takes some time to absorb, but it allows for the inner journey and time-off.
Well said, Evie, and great reframes to the questions. This is the first time I recall seeing you posting, so thanks and welcome!
First, I hope you survive the hurricane.
Second, I like this. I often say to my clients that a successful business owner must execute a lot of little things over time rather than any one large thing, and I think “Do Epic Shit,” while cute, can instill a sense of paralysis. A feeling that what I’m doing right now isn’t big enough, when in fact it takes a lot of small steps to achieve the large achievements (or “Epic Shit”).
Thanks, John – I’m sure we’ll be alright. The less-than-cool thing about it is that it may impact the wedding which brought me here in the first place. The bride is not nearly as ambivalent of the weather as I am.
And I agree about the paralysis, John, which is another thing I don’t like about the motto – I wrote about it in Think Big, Act Small. To me, it’s reminder to believe that we can do bigger things – but the doing of it always comes in small steps. Or, as the Sage said, “the journey of a thousand miles begins beneath the feet.”
Charlie, this post is right on time. I think it finally sunk in that instead of doing the “next big thing,” I have to start/keeping doing the “next small thing.” In fact, I actually need to work on doing the “current small thing.”
Thanks for the reminder.
The next big thing is always done by a series of current and small things.
Thanks, Charlie, you’ve put into words a vague feeling I’ve been unable to pin down. There’s always been something about the “Do epic shit” motto that rubbed me the wrong way, and I think you’ve got it. If all you do is shit that looks epic to other people, (a) you’re going to burn yourself out, and (b) you’re missing the hugely important inner piece. I really appreciate you sharing your insights. (Hope the hurricane isn’t too bad…)
Yep. What I didn’t discuss in this video is that the inner epic journey can actually be more exhausting than the external journeys. I’ve encountered plenty of people who were fatigued precisely because there was too much inner rummaging without enough actual doing in the world.
Oh, I love this. And I love your brilliant commenters, especially Evie’s “does this support” component. Dead on!
Thinking of you and Angela and sending wishes for a smooth and safe weekend!
Thanks, Sherrill. PF commenters are brilliant, aren’t they. (Including you!)
I like the post and the comments. I don’t like the word “shit.” I think you could get the point across with “stuff” or some other word. Just doesn’t seem as professional to me as your organization actually is. Stay inside. Only reporters do epic stuff in hurricanes. 🙂
Thanks for commenting, Jon!
I understand where you’re coming from. Other words don’t seem as truthful to the sentiment to me, to be honest. If ‘professionalism’ requires inauthentic communication, I’d rather not say it at all – which, to be honest, I often oft to do when it would be clearly disrespectful to the audience.
Like I said in the original post, “be remarkable” conveys the same basic meaning, as well, and carries the same mind-games.
I love this Charlie, and everyone that commented! I am in total agreement and have many similar thoughts related to words like ‘Big & Epic.’ It’s funny because the words big & epic are not a reflection on how you actually do big & epic things. The reality is it’s one step + one step etc. It’s important because we constantly see examples of things that change dramatically in an instant. The before and after pictures of someone who lost a hundred pounds, or houses being transformed during a 30 minute tv show. Although big and epic changes can be a great goal, it’s not actually related to how you get there. It can actually be counterproductive and paralyzing because doing something big and epic doesn’t just happen. There are many individual steps, but the beauty is that those individual steps add up really, really quickly, and momentum begins from that first step.
Exactly. I’ve written about this in a previous post called The Two Dynamics of Change, as well. That said, we don’t usually become great by not taking challenges and expanding ourselves, which requires the choice to take the sword when presented.
Thanks for your response Charlie, and for pointing to your other post, I loved it!
Thanks for a great video, Charlie. Especially enjoyed the part about you are bigger than a motto. I like to ask, “Is this thought working for me, or am I working for this though?” to keep myself in the drivers seat.
I appreciated these thoughts. I’m in the habit of (quite literally) driving myself mad when the writing isn’t coming out and, inevitably, end up realizing what I needed to do was step back and remind myself that passion and fun come first, sales second. Anyway, this post is a couple years old, lol, but I appreciated it.