What I Don't Like About the "Do Epic Shit" Motto
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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? Read the full transcript below. 👇🏽
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]