More Epic! More Awesome!

Since the start of the new year, I’ve seen a several prominent bloggers and tweeters asking that the words ‘Epic’ and ‘Awesome’ be removed from the blogging vocabulary in 2011.

And sure, it is true that some folks are guilty of overusing these superlatives to describe things that are truthfully rather mundane. It may occasionally actually be “epic guacamole”, but if every batch starts having more adjectives attached than avocados inside, the words start to lose meaning.

Worse yet is when these superlatives get tacked on to every new marketing campaign or eProduct being offered like a stack of condiments piled high on a sandwich. Do you want to sign up for the latest super epic amazing life-changing course of the week, with a bit of awesome sauce on the side? Don’t worry if you miss it, next month it will be even more epically awesome!

It’s time to eliminate all this epic nonsense once and for all. Enough is enough, right?

Wrong.

We actually strive to have ‘Epic’ and ‘Awesome’ as regular parts of our vocabulary, by aiming to fill our lives with things worthy of being called epic and awesome. This is a most worthy pursuit indeed!

Let’s take epic back.  Instead of diluting the word with mundanity, actively seek out having more epic and awesome experiences in your life that deserve these sorts of labels, and then inspire others by sharing them!

Epic: adjective – grand in scale or character

Epic – Grand on your OWN scale!

What is epic for one person may be mundane or completely undesirable for another.  Don’t let others define what is epic for you.

To be epic, you don’t have to:

Single handledly row across the Pacific Ocean

Build a monumental mountain in the desert

Build a 70′ sailing ship by  hand in your backyard, miles from the nearest water

Design and build the world’s largest koosh ball

Decide to sell everything you own and pay down your massive debt

Sail around the world while having and raising a family

Build a gothic cathedral in a desert

Live full time on the road in a 16′ long box on wheels

Vow not to return home until you have completed your bucket list

Volunteer full time in a third world country

These are of course all genuinely epic and inspiring accomplishments. And we are proud to have heard so many of these incredible stories first hand, straight from the people who have lived them.

But these are their stories, not yours.

Epic doesn’t mean you have outdo someone else’s epic accomplishment – this isn’t a competition.

The only person you’re challenging is yourself – to actually put into action following the path that is calling you.  Make uncompromised room and space for your passions and goals – and being willing to step outside what is safe and comfortable to make them happen. Live with conscious intent to make your priorities your priorities.

• If you’re currently a couch potato – training to complete your first 5K might be an epic voyage of self discovery for you.
• If you’re currently bored and unmotivated with a 9-5 job, perhaps starting a side business or drastically switching careers is the epic journey to embark on next.
• If you’re currently feeling held back by shyness, perhaps your epic journey involves challenging yourself to strike up a conversation with a different stranger every day.
• If your calling is perpetual travel, perhaps selling most of your stuff, finding a nomad-compatible source of income and hitting the road is the start of your epic journey.
• If you want to go earn some extra letters to put after your name, perhaps restructuring your life to finance more education and putting focus on going back to school to study your passions is your epic journey.
• If your mind is feeling overwhelmed, perhaps challenging yourself to an extended silent meditation retreat will be a life-changing quest.
• If you get too lost in making plans to allow for random experiences, perhaps Taking the Serendipity Challenge could be an epic adventure for you.
• And if you are called to the culinary arts, perhaps your quest really is to create the most epic batch of guacamole this world has ever tasted.

It doesn’t need to be epic to anyone else, only to you. Find your ‘epic’, and invite it into your life!

Swtiching gears takes momentum

Most people I’ve encountered have dreams, aspirations and goals. Some big, some small.  But building up the momentum to make them a priorioty is often hard.

The day-to-day drugery of chores, errands, expanding work weeks, kids and more leaves us too exhausted to even approach the things we really want. It’s easy to make excuses for why we can’t put our passions ahead of other things that seem essential, but then instead find ourselves jusitfying engrossing ourselves in a video game, a TV series, endless web surfing, repetively checking our Facebook feed  – or other time sucking activities.

When tackling a long term project, such as going back to school, training for a marathon, starting a business or elsewise, how easy is it to put off with an attitude like:

‘That’ll take so long! I’ll be in my 40s by the time I’m done!!’

To that I challenge you to ask yourself  – ‘How old will you be in 4 years if you didn’t go back to school?’.

The choice is yours now to start embarking on your path towards the future you want.  The future will be here whether you’re doing the same old things or not.

Go ahead – be Epic!

So instead of letting a few naysayers tell us to remove the word ‘Epic’ from our vocabulary – I say, let’s strive to have more truly epic experiences in our lives!  Invite epic to become a more regular part of your vocabulary.

Make your OWN dreams come true, no matter what they are – there is nothing more epic than that.

We’re currently formulating our next epic adventure in our own journey.  What will yours be?