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.

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