Fear Doesn't Drive, But It Can Ride Shotgun

What happens when fear threatens to derail not just one dream, but two? This candid exploration of entrepreneurship and creative passion reveals the delicate balancing act many of us face when pursuing multiple callings simultaneously.

Running our bagel shop has become one of the most humbling experiences of my life. Some mornings, the place buzzes with energy, customers line up eagerly, and I can feel our brand taking root in the community. Then there are the slow days when doubt creeps in, bringing questions every entrepreneur dreads: Did I invest too much? Did I miscalculate? Is this ship sinking while I frantically patch holes?

But there's a deeper complexity at play. While I genuinely love the shop and the community it creates, my other passion—writing—lives downstairs in my office. It's my lifelong dream and happy place. The fear isn't just about business failure; it's about pouring so much into one passion that my other dream never gets the space it needs to grow. This tension taught me something profound: fear isn't proof that you're failing; it's proof that you're growing.

The strongest people aren't those without fear but those who feel it and still move forward. Fear can sit in the passenger seat—a level of it is even beneficial—but it doesn't get to drive. Whether you're pursuing entrepreneurship, creative endeavors, or any new chapter, remember that growth is usually hiding just on the other side of fear. Success isn't about hitting every shot perfectly; it's about showing up again after those inevitable shanks and trusting that the lessons you're learning are shaping you for what's ahead. What dream has fear been keeping you from pursuing today?

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Website: www.themikemuldoonpodcast.com
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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome and Fear Introduction
• 1:24 The Bagel Shop Experience
• 3:08 The Writing Passion Downstairs
• 4:22 Growth Through Fear
• 7:13 Closing Thoughts and Appreciation

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hey everybody and welcome to this week's episode of the Mike Muldoon Podcast. Hope you're doing well, hope things are going well for you. Thanks for tuning in, thanks for being here with me. I don't know, I'm probably going to sound like a broken record quite often because I'm going to be again talking about fear again today. But again I want you to also understand, as I've talked about my podcast, when here I'm standing on top of the mountain and now let me tell you how to. How do I did it? You literally are going through my journey with me. So when I'm talking about fear, stress, anxiety, whatever might be in the way for you, I've actually been experiencing it myself. So I am on this journey, going through it with you, not somebody who just suddenly just appears on screen one day or you know, suddenly public speaking something, talking about how they got there. I am actually still working on getting there and that is my journey.

Speaker 1: 0:49

But again, as I've often talked about in the past, the thing that stops people from doing a lot of things is fear. Fear stops growth, fear is what puts people, stops them in their tracks, gets them to pivot, go back to the more safer confines, safer, safer ways. Right, because, again, as I've talked about the body, the mind, everything wants the path of least resistance. Fear is really supposed to be designed to keep you safe, right, and in some cases it does keep you safe. You know, don't go out there, there's killer lions, right, well, okay, fear sets in you stop, you, don't go outside that door. But other times fear just comes in and says I don't try something new, you're good, you're right here, even though you're unhappy, I got to tell you so.

Speaker 1: 1:24

This bagel shop that my wife and I opened up it has been one of the most humbling experiences of my life. Some days it feels effortless, it's like a golfer hating that one perfect shot. I mean, the swing is smooth, the ball sail, you know that like clean, you know just out there, and for a brief moment you think this is it, I've got it, I'm going to hit like this all the time. Let's keep going. But then you step up again, right, you swing, and you just completely miss. You shank it once, then again, suddenly, you're not sure if you ever knew what you were doing in the first place. And that's what running this bagel shop feels like some days. There are mornings when the place is buzzing, customers are lining up and you could feel the brand taking root in the community. It's exciting, it's energizing, it's why I do it. And then there are days the business just slows.

Speaker 1: 2:05

You glance at the numbers. Fear creeps in. You start asking yourself questions. No entrepreneur right, because I'm an entrepreneur wants to know did I invest too much? Did I miscalculate? Is the ship sinking while I'm trying to patch holes? I don't know. But these are the questions that creep in and if you're aware of it, you can stop it, you can get yourself from not going down the rabbit hole and you could push through. And again, this is kind of just what I want to talk about today.

Speaker 1: 2:33

Okay, here's the deeper truth. I love the shop. I do. I like having a bagel shop. It's not something I wanted to do. You know, my wife used to talk all the time like I'd love to have a coffee shop. So dan was like that sounds great, you should do that. Who would have thought I'd spend 99 of my time at the shop and she'd be doing her other job, which actually is she's very good at? So I'm here.

Speaker 1: 3:20

What I love about this shop is the community it brings together. Um, I love it. I love going up there and meeting people and all these new faces and all these really awesome people I get to meet and just hearing, you know, just hearing about them, learning about people. I like that you'll. If you ever come into the shop and we start talking, you'll notice I'll pull up a chair and I'll sit there right with you for as long as I think you want me sitting there. If you're eating it's probably a little uncomfortable, but as long as you're, because I like getting to know people, I like talking to people. I enjoy that.

Speaker 1: 3:47

Part of this whole m street experience is for me, is that you know everybody here has a friend. It almost should be become like my cheers, right, like you, you walk in there and it's your cheers as well. You walk in there, you know people and there's always something there and I feel like that's the you know, that's something that we we've, we've right the simple joy of me just seeing people here. I feel like we've been pretty successful at doing that right, because that really matters to me. It matters deeply to me that when people come in here, not only are they spending money but they're having a great experience. But if we're going to be fully honest here, this shop community bringing everybody together is only kind of half of my passion. See, the other half lives downstairs. So if you've been in the shop before, you probably see what is he doing down there, what's going on down there.

Speaker 1: 4:30

Well, I have an office here and that's where I spend time writing and writing has, you know, been just my lifelong dream. It's my happy place. No matter what's going on in the world including sometimes when I'm stressed here with the bagel shop part I can go to writing, it's my happy place and everything subsides. But when fear sort of creeps in about the business, it sometimes feels compounded, because it's not just well, what if the business failed? Right, it's also what if I poured so much into this that I never give my other dream, my other passion, the space it needs to grow. And that's not about loving one thing less, it's about wrestling with how to balance two things that I really care deeply about. So this is what I've learned in this when it comes to fear, it isn't proof that you're failing. Fear is proof that you're growing.

Speaker 1: 5:29

And growth doesn't only come from, you know, chasing your dreams and your passions head on. Sometimes it just comes from the detours, the ventures, the challenges that shape you in ways your dreams alone never could See. The thing is, every time we step into something unknown whether it's launching a new business, chasing a passion project or just stepping into a new chapter fear is going to be there. The real danger isn't fear itself. The danger is letting fear make the decisions for you. Even if venture somehow didn't work out, oh gosh, it wouldn't be wasted. Sometimes it takes money, time and energy to learn, and sometimes the lessons you pick up in one passion give you the resilience and creativity and the perspective you'll need for another. See, the thing is, if you look back in your life, there are things that maybe you thought have broken you, but they built you up and they put you in a position to be better for it in the future.

Speaker 1: 6:24

Now I'm really hoping we're going to be successful here, because I really like the business and, for me again, I love to keep it going and I love, again, the community with it and I love having a place to come and bring people together. But, like I said, if it wasn't, I hate saying the words meant to be. There's some growth that is going to come from it and, honestly, that's life outside of business as well. I mean, how many times do we stop ourselves because fear tells us the risk is too high, the timing is wrong or we're not ready? How many opportunities are lost because we mistake fear for a stop sign rather than a signpost pointing to potential growth and opportunity?

Speaker 1: 7:02

The truth is, you don't have to eliminate fear to move forward. I've often said the strongest people are not the ones without fear. The strongest people are the people who have fear and still move forward. You just can't let it be the driving force. Fear can sit in the passenger seat Again. A level of fear is good because it's there for a reason. It is there to help you at times. It just doesn't get to drive you. It doesn't get to command the steering wheel.

Speaker 1: 7:30

So whether you're just standing over that golf ball or running this cafe which I'm doing or carving out time to pursue bigger dreams for yourself, just remember this Success isn't about hitting every shot perfectly. Success is about showing up, swinging again after those shanks, trying to find your ball in the brush, and just trusting that the lessons you're learning, even the balancing act for me between two passions, are shaping for what's ahead, because growth is usually hiding just on the other side of fear. Okay, I hope that made sense. I'm uh, I've been kind of busy and I had to had to try to get this in real quick. So, anyway, as always, I appreciate you being here. You know, share with your family, your friends, make sure you're liking it. Yeah, I'll leave reviews. That's always always helpful stuff like that. And, uh, you know, as we're going into a weekend, uh, this week, um, as you know, I know everybody looks forward to the weekend, just always, you know, be smart, be safe out there and always just keep in mind I got another blow for you. We'll see you next time.