Life's Not About Existing—It's About Taking the Leap

Have you ever noticed how fear shows up right before you're about to do something significant? That nagging voice of doubt appears precisely when you're on the edge of growth—and that's exactly where I find myself today.

Between moving house, setting up a new office, and launching a coffee and bagel shop (something completely outside my wheelhouse), I've been running on excitement, stress, adrenaline, and way too much coffee. The exhaustion is real, but so is the opportunity for growth. Despite having virtually no experience in hospitality—unless you count my brief stint as a terrible teenage waiter—I'm diving headfirst into this new venture.

What's fascinating is how predictably fear appears when we step beyond our comfort zones. Today, while working at our future shop, an elderly woman stopped by to inquire about the space. When I explained my new business plans and confessed my inexperience, she smiled and offered the perfect words: "Fortune favors the bold." This serendipitous moment reminded me why embracing discomfort matters.

Fear isn't a warning to retreat—it's confirmation you're moving toward something meaningful. The bold ones who push forward despite the doubt are those who find fortune. I'm sharing this not as someone who has it all figured out, but as a fellow traveler on this journey of growth with you. Life isn't about merely existing; it's about living fully and pursuing what brings you joy.

So if you're standing on the edge of something new and fear is tapping you on the shoulder, recognize it as a good sign. Push forward, keep building, stay bold—and know that when fear is present, you're heading in exactly the right direction. What bold move are you contemplating today? Share your story, and let's embrace the journey together.

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Website: www.themikemuldoonpodcast.com
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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey everyone, welcome to this week's episode of the
Mike Muldoon Podcast.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
I'm late.
I know I'm late.
It's not.
It's Friday afternoon here.
Oh, it has been crazy couple ofweeks.
I know I've been talking aboutit and if I sound tired or
fatigued, boy am I tired andfatigued.
I didn't even realize it wasFriday.
There is so much going on.

(00:21):
I mean, this past week has beenone for the books.
I'm moving house, which meansI'm also in my new office right
now, so I hope the sound qualityis just as good as it's been in
the past.
So someone will have to let meknow.
If not, I'm sure I'll doublecheck it as well.
We're also opening a business Ithink I mentioned I don't know
if I actually talked about whatthis business is something

(00:43):
completely outside my wheelhouse.
We're opening up a coffee andbagel shop.
And no, I have never worked inhospitality before, unless you
count the times when I did alittle catering back in the day,
when I was in earlyentertainment days in between
gigs and when I was 17 years old, I think I got fired from a
restaurant.
I was just a really bad waiter,but that's it.
I have nothing else in thisworld.

(01:03):
So this whole adventure is new.
It's nerve wracking, but here'sthe thing I've been putting in
the work I've been researching,meeting with vendors, I've had
to handle with electricians andplumbers and painters, and I
guess you say dusting off themoney it takes to make it happen
and laying the groundwork so wecan be set up for success.

(01:24):
I have been spending months andreally looking in this and
running numbers and crunchingthings and I'm excited.
But also, while all this ishappening, I'm tired.
I am really tired.
That kind of tiredness comeswhen you're running on
excitement, stress, adrenalineand about three cups of coffee.
But even when everything goingon, something else has been

(01:44):
creeping in, and it's that onething that I always talk about
that wants to stop us.
It wants us hold us back.
But I want to talk a little bitabout how it's been doing it to
me and what I've been doing tohandle it, and that is that big
F word fear.
So so, as I've often talkedabout fear, it always seems to

(02:30):
show up right before you'reabout to do something right,
Doesn't it?
I mean, it's right there.
But the important part is forme, is I'm aware of it?
So when fear creeps in.
It doesn't just startle me likeit used to.
I see it for what it is.
It's just a signal that I'mstepping into something new,
something challenging, somethingworth doing.
See, fear shows up becausewe're moving outside of our
comfort zone, and that isexactly where the good stuff

(02:53):
lives.
So today, while I was working atthe new shop you know, in
between again finishing up ourmove, unpacking things my wife
loves to send the flat packstuff and all of a sudden that
has to get assembled but while Iwas at the shop today getting a
couple of things done, thislovely old lady she just happens
to stop by like everybody else.
You know what's going on,what's this place going to be,
and she was asking about thebuilding.

(03:14):
I told her you know it's goingto be a coffee and bagel shop
and she lit up.
You know excitement, genuinelyhappy for me and happy for this
business.
And as I was explaining, youknow this is a new venture for
me.
You know it's completelyoutside my comfort zone.
It's something we've neverreally done before.
Even my wife my wife's a lawyer, so it's not like something
she's done before.
She just looks at me, shesmiles and it's almost
serendipitously she says youknow well, fortune always favors

(03:37):
the bull, and I and this littlemoment felt again so
serendipitous.
It was just a reminder, rightwhen I needed it most.
Because that's the truth, isn'tit?
It's always the way.
I mean, fear is natural.
Exhaustion is part of thejourney.
Doubt will whisper, but thebold, the ones who move forward,

(03:59):
anyway, they're the ones whofind the fortune.
So if you're standing on theedge of something new and fear
is tapping you on that shoulder,good, it means you're about to
do something that matters.
So all I can tell you is, again,as I've often talked about in
my podcast, I don't come from aplace of look how successful I
am.
Now I want you to tell you howI got there.

(04:20):
You are with this journey, withme.
If you've been following me foryears, you've heard a lot of my
journey, from internationalmoves to job changes, to risk
taken, to lost all this stuff.
I'm right here with you, but Iwant you to know if you're about
to do something that matters,push forward, keep building,
stay bold, because fortunealways favors that bold.

(04:43):
And, as I've said many times,countless times, life is about
living.
It's not about existing, andliving is not about I'm just
walking around, I'm breathing.
It is about just doingsomething that every day, you
just feel like.
You know, I'm happy.
I'm happy for today, I'm happy,Just not existing, waking up
and going through the motions.
Okay, Push forward, keepbuilding, stay bold and, when

(05:07):
fear is present, know you areheading in the right direction.
All right, oh gosh Again.
Sorry I'm late on this.
Can't even believe.
I didn't realize it was Friday.
As always, we're going into theweekend.
Be safe, have fun, and I gotnothing but love for you.
We'll see you next time.