If It Was Easy, Everyone Would Do It

What does it truly cost to chase something with your name on it? After breaking my years-long streak of never missing a podcast episode, I'm back to share why I disappeared—I've been opening a bagel shop in England, despite having zero café experience (I was actually fired from my only restaurant job as a teenager).

Those pre-dawn drives to the shop, when it's just me and the empty motorway, have become unexpected moments of clarity. We often hear "if it was easy, everyone would do it," but what does that really mean in practice? It means choosing the uncertain over the comfortable, the challenging over the familiar. Most of us construct lives of safety, convincing ourselves we're living boldly while actually avoiding friction at every turn. And that's understandable—comfort is warm, predictable, and asks nothing of you.

But here's what I've discovered: growth, risk, vision—these things don't live in comfort zones. They thrive in those quiet, cold mornings when you're working while others sleep. The path isn't glamorous. There's no applause for completing your second errand before sunrise. The anxiety doesn't disappear when you find your purpose; if anything, it gets louder because suddenly you care more deeply. As Winston Churchill said, "Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts." Where are you playing it safe? What comfort are you choosing over curiosity? You don't have to make dramatic changes all at once—you just have to refuse to stop moving forward. Whether this bagel shop succeeds or fails, I know I'll be better for having tried, and I hope my journey inspires you to take that step you've been avoiding.

Instagram: @mikemuldoonlc
Website: www.themikemuldoonpodcast.com
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/company/mike-muldoon-podcast

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey everyone and welcome to this week's episode
of the Mike Muldoon podcast.
Oh gosh, I don't know.
In some way I'm slightlyembarrassed.
I started this podcast yearsago and I pride myself on never
missing a day.
Never missing a day, no matterhow busy I got.

(00:20):
But I guess I never realizedhow busy you get when you start
your own business, and that'swhat I've been doing.
We opened up our bagel shophere in England.
Um, here's the interesting thingI have uh, I never even worked
in a cafe.
I've never made coffee foranybody.
I don't think I've ever reallyserviced anybody.
I, um, I worked in a restaurantone time when I was seven I

(00:42):
might've been 16 at the time, Idon't even know.
I was fired.
I was a waiter.
I wasn't very good at it, Iguess.
When I lived in Los Angeles fora while, I did some catering,
but that's not really servingpeople trying to understand how
to run a cafe and a business andall that stuff.

(01:02):
But if you've been following mypodcast, my wife and I just
decided one day to open up abagel shop.
We found the right space and wedecided to do it.
And, yeah, we've been doing itand, with that all being said,
it's been a little bit crazy forme.
I have spent a lot of timethere, a lot of things going on.

(01:22):
It's a lot when you start doinga business that you're not very
familiar with, but I'm doing it.
If you've been listening to mypodcast for years because I've
been doing this for years I talkabout life's, about living.
It's not about existing.
So you have to take onchallenges and keep pushing
yourself forward, and it's beengood, it's been a good endeavor

(01:44):
for us and I'm excited about it.
It's just, it's been a lot, youknow, and I can't believe I
missed two podcasts.
But I guess what I want to talkabout today is that whole that
saying.
You know, if it was easy,everyone would do it, you know.
I want to talk about again whichI've talked about numerous

(02:06):
times on why comfort isoverrated, risk is necessary and
early mornings.
They really do teach youeverything, and that's what
we're going to talk about today.
So let's start with somethingI've never done.

(02:54):
In three years of broadcasting,again, I have never missed an
episode and I've now missed twostraight episodes, and if you've
been listening for a while, youknow that that's not like me.
I mean, the podcast has beensteady companion, rain or shine,
whether I was feeling inspiredor not, even while I was even
traveling.
Numerous times I was doing itwhile I was traveling.

(03:14):
But lately, like I said, lifehas been full and it's been not
bad.
In fact it's been very good,but full in that you know that
wake up before sun, answer 20messages before coffee, forget
what date is kind of way.
I mean, every morning at 6 amI'm on the road, just me the

(03:34):
empty motorway.
One thing I'm very lucky is themotorway is lucky Luke Warren
Coffee only, because even thoughI'm in a bagel shop and a
coffee shop, I actually stop atMcDonald's every day because
it's the only place open alongthe way just to have a hot drink
.
Listening to some podcasts otherpeople's podcasts I've been
listening to and sometimes itdoesn't even connect with the

(03:57):
Bluetooth properly.
I got to try to fix that, butit's been crazy and it's a bit
of a lonely stretch, but also aquiet one, a kind of moving
meditation, a daily reminderthat chasing something is
worthwhile and it really feelsconvenient.
And that brings me to the pointof this piece Again.

(04:19):
If it was easy, everyone woulddo it.
So the thing is, most peoplelive a life that's safe, right,
they live within their comfortzones.
Sometimes they'll try to sell.
They'll tell themselves like,oh, I'm living a crazy existence
, but they're not.
They're living in within aworld of safety.
They choose comfort overchallenge.
I look, I don't fault in it,it's just what most people do,

(04:40):
because the thing is familiarityalways.
You know, familiarity, always.
What's the best word for this?
It, uh, I guess you can sayfamiliarity in life over
friction.
Right, security over movement.
Um, and why wouldn't they?
Why wouldn't most people wantit?

(05:00):
Because Comfort is warm, it'spredictable, it asks nothing of
you.
You can stay there for decades.
Some people stay there theirwhole lives and no one will ever
question it.
It's okay.
But comfort has a shadow sideto it.
It can dull your edges, itmakes the days blur, it trades,

(05:26):
you know, growth, risk, vision.
These things don't live incomfort.
They live in discomfort, whichis something many people avoid.
It lives in loneliness.
They live in.
It really lives in work.
It lives in effort.

(05:47):
It lives in movement.
It lives in effort.
It lives in movement.
It lives in getting up everymorning before the sun rises and
driving solo before most peopleare awake.
It isn't glamorous.
There's no applause, there's noInstagram quote that really
captures what it feels like tobe halfway through your I don't

(06:09):
know, maybe your second errandat that point, before the sun
has even cleared the rooftops.
But it's in these moments,those quiet moments, you know,
slightly cold moments, I guess,slightly tired mornings I've
started to realize this is whatit costs.
This is what chasing somethingwith your name on it looks like.

(06:30):
It's not big fanfare, it's notviral moments, but repeated,
intentional quiet steps, andmost people won't do it, not
because they can't, but becauseit's hard and it's lonely and
it's uncertain, which is exactlywhy it matters.

(06:50):
Which is exactly why it matters.
You know this misconception outthere that once you find your
thing, the fear goes away.
It's not true.
If anything, your fear getsmagnified.
If anything, the stakes justget higher.
The fear gets louder.
The anxiety shows up in newclothes, like what if I let
everyone down?
What if I fail?
What if I'm in over my head?

(07:13):
What about if it doesn't workout?
What about the financials?
Don't line up, whatever it is.
But here's what I've learnedthus far in these early mornings
, especially on these drives andthese long days Anxiety doesn't
mean you're doing the wrongthing.
It means you care.
Does it mean you're doing thewrong thing?

(07:33):
It means you care, it meansyou're pushing, it means you're
alive.
And there's this one quotethat's been sitting with me a
lot lately, especially duringthe last few weeks Success is
not final, failure is not fatal.
It is the courage to continuethat counts, and that is from
Winston Churchill.

(07:53):
See, that quote reminds me,we're not here to arrive, we're
here to continue, not because wehave to, but because there's
something deep inside us thatstill knows we're meant for
something more than juststanding still.
So I guess my question to a lotof you is where are you playing

(08:15):
it safe?
Where have you chosen comfortover curiosity?
Where have you stopped becauseit's got too hard and told
yourself maybe it just wasn'tfor me?
If it's something that came tomind while reading that, hold on
to it, sit with it and maybejust even quietly, without
telling anyone, take one smallstep towards it.

(08:37):
Today, see, you don't have todo it all, you just have to not
stop.
And that's just kind of whereI'm at right now.
So I will do my best to be herenext week, back on the mic,
back in the rhythm of it all.
I'll do my best, but, like Isaid, I'm just.
I took on something you know andif you've been listening to my

(08:59):
podcast for the last few years,you know me life's about living,
you know it's just not aboutexisting.
And the more I say that, themore I hope my people understand
that most people in the world,they just exist, they just go
through it, they think they'reliving, they're breathing,
they're getting up, they'redoing things, they're going
through the days.
They're seeing their Monday toTuesday and Wednesday to
Thursday to Friday, saturday,sunday.

(09:24):
They're seeing it, it's allgoing.
Look at me I'm living.
I'm getting older, but that'snot living.
So if you're listening to this,there's always time to make
change.
But for me I just want to saythank you.
Thank you for sticking around,for showing up, listening to my
podcast and for just choosing tobe here.
Maybe it'll give you that nudgeand direction or the courage

(09:46):
that you need.
It's interesting.
I was out with a friend of minethe other day.
We were catching up.
He stopped by the shop.
He was able to knock on my backdoor.
He said my shop's on the corner, I'm very lucky, so I have a
back door into our kitchen.
He knocked on the door on himand I started chatting for a bit
and we got we were able tocatch up later and he goes.
You know, you inspired me.
Look at you, you're a writer.
You know your wife's a lawyer.

(10:08):
You, you know you.
Neither one of you ever reallyworked in a cafe or do any
makeup, but here you are, you'redoing it.
You've inspired me and I guesswhat I want to say is, if I can
help you out there, inspire totake a little courage to you,
know to realize that, looklife's short, make changes.
And if you're up to chasingsome things out there, you know,

(10:31):
maybe they'll keep you up early, keep you out late, but you
know what, just keep going.
The thing is you're not alone.
Like I said since I startedthis podcast, I don't come to
you from a point of look at me,oh look, I'm so successful
everybody.
Now look at my journey.
I come from a point of a guywho's been doing it Since I
started this podcast.

(10:52):
I was a guy who at one point wasin the middle of a career
making 200 grand a year, couldhave comfortably just lived
there, decided to walk away fromthat because I wasn't happy, I
wasn't living a life, I wasn'tdoing what I wanted to do.
I took some other risks.
I'm taking more risks.
I'm still living my life,though I feel happy.
I spend more time with my kids.

(11:13):
I see them growing up.
You know what they are.
They're growing up and theygrow up quickly.
But I just I don't want to go tomy grave someday and realize I
didn't try, and that is one ofthe biggest things most people
talk about it and the life.
It's not about all thesuccesses they had, it's all
about the things they didn't do.
I don't want to be that guy,you know.

(11:37):
I just want to keep takingthose chances, keep taking those
risks, keep trying to buildsomething better, better life
for my family, and I hope you dotoo, and I hope you realize
it's not that late.
So listen, I apologize.
Two weeks, man, it was killingme, it was absolutely killing me

(11:57):
that I had broke two weekspromise, considering I'd been
traveling it.
Sometimes in the past I'd beenin Italy and Croatia and England
and even Montenegro, andwherever I was traveling, I
always but this, this, this hasbeen a lot taken on this
business, but it's been good.
It's been good and I'm happy.

(12:18):
And who knows how it's going toend, I don't know, maybe we're
successful, maybe we're not, butI know I will always be better
for trying.
All right, this is all I gotfor you today.
So here's the thing.
As always, it's going to be theweekend.
Be safe, have fun and alwaysremember, as you're going out

(12:41):
there, going through yourjourney, I got nothing but love

(13:06):
for you.