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The Mike Muldoon Podcast: Bite-Sized Coaching Sessions Empowering Transformation in Small Doses
Unlike those who’ve already reached their goals and now tell you how to get there, The Mike Muldoon Podcast isn’t about preaching from the finish line. We’re (yes, me too) on this journey together. I’m walking it with you—growing, learning, and striving side by side. This is about elevating our lives, building a stronger, more empowered mindset, and unlocking our full potential with clarity, confidence, and purpose.
The Mike Muldoon Podcast: Bite-Sized Coaching Sessions Empowering Transformation in Small Doses
You'll never grow by staying on the well-worn path.
Standing at life's crossroads, which path do you choose? The familiar one that promises safety but limited growth, or the overgrown path that both scares and calls to you? This episode explores the profound wisdom behind Robert Frost's famous poem "The Road Less Traveled" and why choosing the path of uncertainty often leads to our greatest breakthroughs.
When we step away from comfort and into challenge, we discover parts of ourselves that remain dormant on the well-worn path. The road less traveled isn't just different—it's transformative precisely because it pushes us beyond our limits. While this journey may feel lonely and lacks guarantees, it builds the resilience and character that comfort zones never can.
Have you noticed how every success story focuses not on the arrival but on the struggle? The late nights, the sacrifices, the moments of doubt—these aren't just dramatic elements of storytelling but the very experiences that shaped the storyteller. We celebrate these journeys precisely because they weren't easy. You must be willing to live the struggle to have the story worth telling later.
Whether you're young and nimble like a speedboat that pivots easily, or carrying responsibilities like a cargo ship that turns more slowly, you always have the option to choose differently. Age doesn't eliminate possibility—it just changes the timeline. You don't need to be fearless to choose the road less traveled; you simply need enough courage for that first step. Sometimes that choice, however small, makes all the difference in creating a life that's authentically yours rather than one prescribed by others.
What might be waiting for you down that less-traveled path?
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no-transcript been following me. I've got a lot of great quotes that I like, some by Sidney Smith, but I'm also a big fan of that Robert Frost poem, the Road Less Traveled and why it Matters. Two roads diverged in the woods and I took the road less traveled by and it has made all the difference and that's kind of how I was like trying to live my life a little bit it's not always take that same mundane road but to try different things, and I've been lucky enough to build up enough resilience that when I have done it many times in the past it's kind of led me out into a better outcome. So it's a little bit more trusting. But look, we all know these words right. We've seen them quoted in graduation speeches, on mugs, instagram captions. But, like so many lines, we, you know, we take them for granted. You know, we really stop to ask what do they really mean? And, more importantly, what do they mean to us? For me, this poem is more than just a literary classic. It's a personal reminder that growth only happens when you step into discomfort I've talked about this often when you step into uncertainty and when you step into challenge.
Speaker 1:See, the road less traveled is often the harder path. It's the one without guarantees, that's why it's harder. It's got no roadmap, but it's also the one with the richest lessons, and that's what we're going to talk about today. So I often talk with people who feel stuck at a crossroads. Right, one path is well-led, it's familiar, safe, expected. The other is dimly led, covered in like overgrowth. They can't really see what's going on there and it looks like it might be trouble. But there's also something. There's something calling from it. Right, and it's often that path, the one that no one else is taking, that leads us to these great breakthroughs. I mean, that's the risk that Frost is sort of talking about in his poem though technically there are some other meanings, but we're not going to get into that right now and that's the risk that many of us need to take in our own lives.
Speaker 1:Now, again, I'm not saying just take any risks. Risks should to be calculated, but you should be willing to try them. Think of it like this, like starting a new business when everyone tells you to stay in your secure job, well, you know what? Maybe it's time to try it. Moving to a new city, even though you don't know anyone there speaking up. Right, this is another one Speaking up when it's easier to stay silent.
Speaker 1:These are all things getting out of the comfort zone, taking that road less traveled, pursuing a dream that might fail but might change your life. I've often said this you will not be guaranteed to live your dreams. You don't. You can go after and chase and you hear success stories all the time. I was listening to this interview today by Tom Cruise because he's on the Mission Impossible tour and he's talking about when he's four years old he set his goals, he set his dreams, he knew he wanted to do and he's living them right. And that is great and I'm not surprised. But ultimately it doesn't always happen for people that way. But I always say, if you chase your dreams, and you chase them fully and you go after them, even if you don't achieve them, you might discover something else and you will be better for having to at least tried and not living with that little word regret.
Speaker 1:Okay, but why does it make it so hard? Why is traveling the road less traveled so hard for so many people? Well, for starters, you're alone. Most people aren't going with you. You don't have 10 other people telling you what to do next. You're just you're, you're going about it yourself. Now my new venture I've got my wife with me and I've got a really supportive fan base of family and friends who are just. You know. You know got that A lot of times. You're going about it alone because even when people are championing, it's still you that's out there doing it. You know, you got that fear that you might fail and nobody likes failure, nobody likes falling around the net, right? Everybody's always looking for guarantees but you don't get a guarantee, you know. But the good thing is, as you do this and as you push forward, you build resilience and guess what? You're going to grow. You'll grow because comfort is easy, growth isn't. You don't grow in comfort, but here's the truth. You'll never grow by staying on that well-worn path. You'll never grow. I can tell you that the most major transformations come from people stepping into fear, not avoiding it.
Speaker 1:My daughter she's really into TV, which is really interesting. She's really into TV and film. You know a lot of kids nowadays are just into like the YouTube and all that. But she loves TV, she loves film and she's discovered all these like classics. You know well kid classics and back in June watching Hannah Montana and I was just sitting there one day and I'm sitting there with her, so I'm just hanging out, cause and Hannah Montana had this quote, Uh, it said that life's what you make of it, so let's make it rock. And it's true. I mean, I kind of looked at it I was like, oh, that's, that's true. You know, life is what it make of it. Let's make it rock, you know. But behind that, you know that and that show it you it's.
Speaker 1:It's really important to remember that you are the author of your life and you can either write a safe story that looks like everyone else's or you can write one that's a little messier, a little bolder and a lot more you. Okay, so if you're standing at some crossroads right now, ask yourself what's the road I'm expected to take, and maybe you don't know what that road is, but maybe you just want to try a different road. You know what's that road that scares you a little but kind of excites you a little bit, right? What's the story you want to tell when you look back on this choice? See, the thing is most of the time actually, I'm sorry, let's, let's throw out most of the time, let's talk about all the time.
Speaker 1:Anybody who's gone on to do any sort of successful thing in their lives or whatever it is and again I don't mean successful in sort of the monetary sense you know became filthy, disgusting, rich, whatever. It is, just anything that they grew on. They never tell you about how awesome it is right now. Everybody goes back to the journey. Awesome it is right now. Everybody goes back to the journey Everybody always tells you about. I was in that garage working 15 hours a day, you know, just boxing up books. You know I was not sleeping for 72 hours because I was trying to get this thing done. Or, you know, for three years, you know we ate noodles and you know whatever it was.
Speaker 1:Listen to everybody when they tell you their success stories. They all talk about the journey and it's always that road that let's travel. And it was a road that was hard. It wasn't a simple road, you know. It wasn't like. I don't know. I just started a company. Boom, it took off. It's great looking me, I've got a $300 million yacht. You know it always starts.
Speaker 1:Everybody wants to talk about the struggle to get there. Everybody wants to talk about the story, but you got to be willing to live the story to have the story, to go back and tell others right. So you don't need to be fearless, you just need to be brave enough to choose, because sometimes that choice, small or large, is what makes all the difference. And in case you need permission from a stranger on the internet, which could be me, you're allowed to want more, you're allowed to take the risk, you're allowed to choose the road that no one else is walking, because the thing is, you never know what's waiting down that path. All right, and that's what I waiting down that path. All right, and that's what I got for you today. And if somebody is listening to this I'm too old to do is you're never too old. It just might be a little bit harder.
Speaker 1:I've talked about it in previous podcasts, where you know, when you're young you're like a speedboat shooting across the ocean and if you want to pivot you just jack it around and shoot right back the other direction. But when you're a little bit older, you got responsibilities, family obligations, bills, debts, whatever it is. You're kind of like a cargo ship, but it doesn't mean you can't turn it around. It just may take you a little bit longer, but it is possible. All right, all right everybody. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you so much for listening. Continue to share with your friends. Again. Spotify apple wherever you list your favorite podcasts. Uh, reviews are great. If you get a chance, hit that little apple subscribe button. I really appreciate it. Love to hear from you. You can always reach me at mike muldoon, at mike muldoon, lccom. Love to hear from you. All right as always. Have a great weekend, be safe and I got nothing to love for you. You.
