Episode 35: Things I’d Stop Teaching If I Was Being Honest

There’s a lot of advice we keep repeating because it sounds wise, responsible, or motivating. Some of it worked once. Some of it helped at a different time in life. And some of it quietly stops serving us long before we admit it.

In this episode, Mike takes a closer look at a few ideas he’d stop teaching if he was being honest. Not to tear anything down, and not to be contrarian, but to update the guidance based on lived experience.

This conversation covers passion, work, confidence, and grit, and offers practical filters you can actually use instead of slogans that look good but leave people stuck. It’s about learning when to push, when to pause, and how to tell the difference.

If you’ve ever felt frustrated by advice that sounds right but doesn’t quite fit anymore, this episode will help you rethink what you’re carrying and decide what’s worth keeping.

The episode closes with the song “When the World Gets Loud,” a reminder that strength doesn’t always need volume and that kindness can be a deliberate, steady choice.

Still here.

Still trying.

Episode 34: The Freedom of Caring Less About the Wrong Things

In this episode, Mike talks about the quiet shift that happens when you stop caring so much about things that never actually made life better.

Approval.

Being right.

Keeping up.

Explaining yourself to people who were never going to understand you anyway.

This conversation isn’t about checking out or lowering the bar. It’s about growing up, paying attention, and realizing how much energy gets wasted managing perceptions, narratives, and expectations that don’t move anything forward.

Mike reflects on what changes when you stop auditioning for rooms you don’t need, stop replaying conversations that are already over, and stop carrying emotional weight that isn’t yours. What shows up instead is time, focus, and a quieter confidence that doesn’t need permission or applause.

This episode is honest, grounded, and a little relieving. It’s for anyone who feels stretched thin, tired of performing, or ready to live with more intention and less noise.

The episode closes with the song “Highway Ghosts,” a reminder that the past might ride along, but it doesn’t get to drive.

If you’re done explaining, done proving, or done running races you never signed up for, this one’s for you.

Still here.

Still trying.

A year into this chapter, the tone feels louder, sharper, and more centered on ego than responsibility. This episode isn’t about politics as a debate. It’s about what this style of leadership does to us over time.

I talk honestly about exhaustion, disappointment, and the quiet ways trust erodes when chaos and self-interest become normalized. I wrestle with optimism, not as denial, but as a discipline. A choice to stay human when it would be easier to harden or check out.

This is a reflection on leadership, culture, and the question a lot of us are asking quietly.

Does this actually feel like who we want to be.

I close the episode with Written in the Stars, a song from the early days of this project, as a reminder that not everything has to be forced and not everything unfolds on our timeline.

Still here. Still trying. Still choosing humanity.

Episode 32: Who You Become in the Middle

This episode was recorded after a full week of perspective.

Turning fifty.

Time away with Kellie.

Music that demanded presence.

A surprise that reminded me how much quiet work love actually takes.

Somewhere in the middle of all that, I saw a simple image about goals. It wasn’t clever. It wasn’t new. It was true.

We spend so much time chasing outcomes. Promotions. Numbers. Milestones. Finish lines. And then we’re surprised when getting there doesn’t change us the way we thought it would.

This episode is about the middle.

The part that feels repetitive.

The part nobody posts.

The part where progress looks invisible and questions start showing up quietly.

I talk about leadership when results lag behind effort.

Creative work that asks for honesty before it offers validation.

Relationships that are built through unseen consistency.

And how growth usually happens without announcing itself.

I also send you into the week with a new song, Hope’s Last Broadcast, written in response to the division, noise, and fear that feel everywhere right now. It’s a reminder that we’re not enemies, we’re the same crowd, and that choosing humanity still matters.

If you’re tired.

If you’re questioning.

If you’re wondering whether the work you’re doing is actually shaping anything.

This episode is for you.

Thanks for being here.

Still here. Still trying.

Stop Making Yourself Small;

Finding Oxygen After You Leave Broken Systems

In this episode of Still Here, Still Trying, Mike sits down with longtime friend Chad Anderson for a wide-ranging conversation about identity, trauma, creativity, and what it takes to live fully after leaving systems that no longer fit.

Chad shares what it cost him to choose honesty, what it gave back over time, and why creating joy has become a deliberate act of resistance. This episode is about staying human, building safety, and refusing to shrink when the world asks you to.

What you’ll hear in this episode

• Why many people survive by making themselves smaller.

• What it feels like to finally come up for oxygen.

• The real cost of choosing truth and why staying quiet costs more.

• How trauma shows up long after the system is gone.

• Why creativity helps carry stories that words alone cannot.

• The difference between community and compliance.

• How safety, joy, and boundaries work together.

• Why creating joy right now takes intention.

• What it means to still be here and still be trying.

About today’s guest

Chad Anderson is a licensed clinical social worker, writer, filmmaker, and podcast host based in Salt Lake City, Utah. He lives with his husband and their two teenage children. Chad owns and operates Healthy Conflict Counseling, where he works with individuals navigating conflict, trauma, identity, and hard conversations.

He is the host of the weekly podcast Graymalkin Lane, the author of Gay Mormon Dad (forthcoming as a graphic novel), and the producer of the documentary film Dog Valley.

Links and resources

• Healthy Conflict Counseling

• https://www.healthyconflictcounseling.com

• Graymalkin Lane podcast

  https://www.instagram.com/graymalkin_lane/

• Dog Valley documentary

  Available on Tubi, YouTube, and Amazon

  https://www.amazon.com

• Gay Mormon Dad (graphic novel coming soon)

  Updates available via Chad’s website

About the show

Still Here, Still Trying is hosted by Mike Baker. The podcast explores real life, creativity, leadership, family, and the quiet work of staying human when life does not go according to plan.

If this episode resonated:

• Follow the podcast.

• Share it with someone who needs it.

• Leave a review if you have a minute. That support keeps the work going.

Mira had the week off for this episode. She’ll be back soon.

Beautifully Unfocused

This episode moves differently.

Mike Baker walks through his new album Beautifully Unfocused one song at a time, using music to explain what living with ADHD actually feels like from the inside. Not a release announcement. Not a lesson. Context.

You’ll hear where each song came from. The overload. The hyperfocus. The crashes. The caffeine. The guilt of disappearing. The pride of building something anyway. The quiet moments no one sees. The tools that help. The parts that still don’t.

Some songs swear. Some moments hit hard. Some will feel uncomfortably familiar.

This episode is for people who live inside loud, fast minds. For partners, family, and coworkers who want to understand better. For creatives who struggle with focus but carry depth. For anyone tired of being told to “try harder.”

Headphones help. Let it run all the way through.

Beautifully unfocused. If you stayed this long, you get it.

🎧 Still Here, Still Trying

Episode 29: Christmas, Still Here (A Short Reset for the Week Before Christmas)

The week before Christmas hits hard for a lot of people. The calendar fills up, patience gets thin, and emotions show up in ways that don’t always make sense until you’re in it.

In this short episode of Still Here, Still Trying, Mike Baker slows things down and gives you a grounded reset for the days leading into Christmas. No interview. No hype. No pretending. You get a real conversation about how to move through this week with clarity, steadiness, and a little more room to breathe.

You’ll hear Mike talk about:

• Why the week before Christmas feels so intense, even when nothing “big” is happening

• Family dynamics, pressure, and the emotional weight people carry into the holiday

• How leadership and responsibility follow you home, especially this time of year

• Simple ways to protect your energy, stay calm, and avoid unnecessary friction

• What showing up looks like when you feel stretched thin

This episode is for you if you’re dealing with holiday stress, end-of-year burnout, anxiety heading into Christmas, or the quiet pressure to make everything feel perfect for everyone else. It’s also for you if you want a Christmas week podcast that feels honest, human, and actually useful.

The episode closes with “O Holy Night” as the outro song, giving you a quiet place to land before the holiday arrives.

If Christmas feels joyful, complicated, heavy, or all of the above, press play. You’re not alone.

Outro song: O Holy Night

Podcast: Still Here, Still Trying

Host: Mike Baker

Episode Title: A Goalie’s Letter to Santa

Beer league goalies live in a different headspace. Warmups start and you’re already in your head. One screen you can’t see through, one weird bounce, one soft goal, and you’re doing therapy in real time behind a mask.

In this holiday episode, Mike sits down with Tom Buck for a goalie-to-goalie conversation that turns into something bigger.

Tom is a longtime audio and video creator and a former high school Digital Media teacher who’s built a welcoming community around cameras, mics, streaming, and podcasting. He’s also the kind of guy who brings calm, humor, and perspective to everything, including the chaos of the crease.

Mike met Tom at Weekend Warriors Hockey Camp this summer, and the goalie chemistry was instant. This episode is framed as a “goalie wish list,” but it’s really about how beer league becomes family and why the position teaches you more about life than you expect.

You’ll hear us talk about:

• What “clear the crease” actually means

• Screens, blocked shots, and deflections that make zero sense

• Goalie interference and the realities of beer league officiating

• Power plays, puck handling panic, and why “time, time, time” matters

• Why a good bench changes how you play

• The adult side of hockey, connection, and the people you meet along the way

Tom Buck: www.himynameistom.com

Weekend Warriors Hockey Camps: weekendwarriorshockey.com

Beer League Players Association: blpa.com