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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
Growth Isn't Linear: Why Your Self-Help Journey Feels So Hard
Ever feel like you're doing everything right but still not feeling better? You're reading the books, saying the affirmations, drinking water, going to therapy, and journaling—yet that frustrating hum of anxiety remains. If this sounds familiar, you're not alone, and more importantly, you're not broken.
The truth about personal growth is that it rarely follows the straight, upward trajectory we're sold. Progress looks more like a messy scribble than a perfect arrow pointing forward. One good week doesn't guarantee the next won't hit hard, and one difficult day doesn't erase all your progress. This non-linear nature of healing is perfectly normal, though rarely acknowledged in the polished promises of self-improvement culture.
What's particularly challenging is that growth often doesn't feel good at first. Real transformation involves confusion, discomfort, and the painful process of letting go of familiar patterns. This friction isn't failure—it's evidence of movement. Sometimes, the problem isn't even you but the systems surrounding you. No amount of meditation can fully counteract a soul-crushing job or one-sided relationships. And perhaps most radically: you are allowed to stop working on yourself all the time. You don't need to earn rest by being "better"—you deserve it simply because you're human. Rather than chasing constant positivity, chase honesty and alignment with yourself, even when that means sitting with uncomfortable feelings.
Remember that discomfort is often the precursor to change becoming your new normal. Just as muscles feel sore when beginning a new workout routine, your mind initially resists change before adapting. Be patient with yourself. Growth isn't about perfection—it's about compassion, especially for the parts of you that are tired of trying so hard. You're still moving forward, even when it doesn't feel like it.
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Hey everybody, and welcome to this week's episode of the Michael Noon Podcast. Thanks for joining me, thanks for being with me Today. I want to talk about something let's kind of mention. I want to talk about self-help and why you might be struggling with it. I know it's interesting you're listening to my podcast but I want to talk to those people. You know there's a lot of people out there. They're frustrated, they're angry or they're just feeling anxious or lost or confused, and they're working on themselves and they're trying to do everything right now. They're out there and they're like you know, I'm doing everything right, so, so why don't I feel better? You know, uh, they're reading the books. You're listening to podcasts. You'll see my podcast.
Speaker 1:You're, maybe you're an affirmations person. You're saying affirmations every day. You're drinking water, because they say, hey, if you drink water, you'll feel better. You're going to therapy, maybe you're even journaling your feelings, and yet there's still that low hum of frustration. You're still anxious, you're still tired. You're still waiting for that moment when things finally click and everything feels good again.
Speaker 1:But let me say this right now, let me say this up front You're not broken, you're just human. I mean, we live in a world that sells us the idea that, like self-help, is a straight line to happiness. It's easy to feel like you know we're doing something wrong when the results don't come as fast. Right, you know we want it, we're instant gratification. Or, you know, maybe sometimes the results aren't even coming at all. But personal growth, it's not a checklist, it's not a course you complete, it's a messy, ongoing, non-linear ride. So today I want to talk about why doing everything right could still feel wrong sometimes, and what you might be able to do about it. Like I said, you know, healing it's it's. It isn't linear, it's a loop. I mean, one week doesn't mean that the next one won't hit like a truck, and one bad day doesn't mean you're back at square one. Progress looks like uh, like a scribble, not an arrow. Day doesn't mean you're back at square one. Progress looks like a scribble, not an arrow. It's okay if you're tired. It's okay if the tools you usually use don't work every time. That doesn't mean they're useless. It just means you're actually evolving.
Speaker 1:Because the thing is I've talked about this in the past growth it doesn't always feel good, right, because when you're starting to grow, you're going to put yourself in uncomfortable situations. Right, I mean, you know, growth. Actually, what it feels like a lot of times is confusion, discomfort, grief, letting go of old patterns. I mean, I could feel like losing a part of yourself. It's normal to feel worse before you feel better. That's not failure, it's friction, and that friction creates movement. You know so, and sometimes a problem it isn't you, it might be the system around you. I mean, you can meditate all you want, but if your job is draining your soul and your relationships are one-sided or you're navigating a world that constantly undervalues you, of course you're not going to feel great.
Speaker 1:Self-help should support you, but it shouldn't silence what's actually wrong. You're allowed to stop working on yourself all the time. Okay, that's the other thing. If you're just constantly, constantly working on yourself, then you're going to stress yourself out. You don't need to earn rest by being better. Sometimes the best thing you can do is take a breath, eat something warm and stop trying to fix yourself. You are not a project, you're a person and you're allowed to just be so. Sometimes, you know, try things like swap in your mind, like what's wrong with me, for what do I need to do right now? You know, stop chasing constant positivity. This just drives me crazy when people just constantly talk about I'm just so positive, I live in a world of complete positivity. Well, I've talked about this in the past. You cannot live like that because you're cutting yourself off from the human experience. You cannot just sit there and exist in a world of constant positivity because what happens is, without negativity, you don't really know what you want in the world. So it's okay to have emotions right. So stop chasing constant positivity, chase honesty, chase alignment, and Chase honesty, chase alignment. And sometimes that means feeling a little bit bad. Right To feel human, but remember just it's okay not to feel okay even when you're doing all the right things.
Speaker 1:Growth isn't about perfection. It's about compassion, especially for the version that's tired of trying so hard. You are allowed to slow down. You are allowed to feel stuck. You're still moving forward, even if it doesn't feel like it. Just keep going and before you know it, like anything else, like just starting a new workout plan or a new um I hate using the word diet because diet seems so Temporary but a new way of eating, whatever. Eventually it becomes the new norm in your life. It becomes the new comfort in your life because, again, when you start to change the mind. Everything is like I don't want to change. I don't want to change. So it creates more stress and anxiety. We're going into this world of the unknown. I don't want to go there. Stay here. Stay here where it's comfortable. But where you are right now isn't great. So, as you're going through growth, it's going to feel uncomfortable because again, it's like pushing that weight. It's pushing that weight In the beginning wow, it hurts, muscles are sore all the time, but eventually you get used to it, it becomes the new, comfortable and then you'll probably find yourself wanting to grow some more, right? So, again, growth isn't about perfection, it's about compassion and, again, if it's just take your time, you're going to be fine.
Speaker 1:You can have bad days. You can have them. It is what it is. We are human and that's what makes us interesting and that's what makes us all special, right? Okay, that's all I got for you today. Hope you're having a great day. Hope you have a great. Uh, any plans this week? Uh, summer's still rolling. That's awesome. And, as always, going into the weekend, be safe. And I got another love for you.
