Episode 16 – You’ve Been Becoming This Whole Time
In this episode of Still Here, Still Trying, Mike Baker leans into one of the quiet truths from his book The Optimist’s Way™: that we’ve been becoming all along, even when it feels like we’re stuck or falling behind.
Mike begins by reading the full passage from the book, then opens it up into reflections on work, art, and life. He shares the unseen growth that happens in leadership at Heritage Health — the kind that doesn’t show up on dashboards or reports but transforms people in small, profound ways. He talks about the music and art he’s created over the years, including songs and images that may never reach the public but still shaped him in ways no metric can measure.
The heart of the episode is family. Mike reflects on the quiet strength he’s witnessed in his daughter as she lives with endometriosis, and how that has changed the way he sees the invisible battles others carry. He speaks about Jake’s move to Boise, and the becoming that happens as a parent when you learn how to step back, trust your adult children, and cheer them on as they build their own lives. He talks about Cameron’s move across the world to New Zealand, and what it has meant to learn how to love across oceans. And he reflects on his marriage to Kellie — how they’ve become more rooted and honest over the years through both laughter and hardship.
This episode is a reminder that becoming isn’t about big milestones or applause. It’s about the ways you grow softer, steadier, and stronger in the daily moments no one else sees. It’s about breathing, noticing, and remembering you are not behind, you are not lost — you’ve been becoming this whole time.
🎶 Featuring the song “This One’s for Me.”
📖 Read The Optimist’s Way™: https://a.co/d/igbHGkK