If you watched the presidential debate last night, you probably experienced some elevated blood pressure—no matter your political leanings.
I get it. I spent thirty years as a TV reporter and anchor; I understand the chaos from the inside.
A few weeks ago, I posted an experimental solo podcast about my eight strategies to handle election stress. These are not must-dos or homework—just hacks I’ve learned over the years that inject perspective and equanimity into an atmosphere of tumult and uncertainty.
After I first posted the episode, a lot of you wrote in saying you wished you could get a shorthand version of the list. I was champing at the bit to tell you that this new Substack was in the works—that we were finally going to have a place where you can access resources to help you operationalize the learnings from the podcast and also connect with your fellow listeners.
Below you can listen or watch the episode and access the cheatsheet with key takeaways, time coded highlights and transcript. I’m also hoping you’ll join me in the chat to tell me what resonated - and what you’re doing to stay sane.
Also—speaking of election sanity—a recommendation: this free, virtual event on September 21st is about compassionate action—and has some real heavy hitters. It looks great.
Episode cheatsheet
The big takeaway
The mind is trainable, and we can develop skills to help us navigate challenging periods—like the 2024 election season. By reframing the election as an opportunity to practice these skills, we can not only cope better but also improve our overall well-being.
Dan’s eight sanity-saving strategies for election season
1. Mindfulness: Develop awareness of your thoughts without getting carried away by them.
2. Limit news consumption: Use mindfulness to recognize when you've had enough.
3. Diversify news sources: Consume media from various ideological perspectives to gain understanding.
4. Practice loving-kindness meditation: Cultivate warmth towards others, even those you disagree with.
5. Use effective communication skills: Focus on understanding rather than changing minds.
6. Take action: Remember that "action absorbs anxiety"—volunteer or help others locally.
7. Never worry alone: Reach out to friends and discuss your concerns.
8. Practice self-compassion: Be kind to yourself when you struggle to maintain these habits.
Quote to ponder:
"Action absorbs anxiety. It's very easy, I find, in the middle of a turbulent election or an overseas war to feel really helpless. Like, there's nothing you can do. And it may be true that there's very little you can do to affect the macro situation, but you have an enormous amount of power to take action locally."
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Episode timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction and context
02:10 - Caveats about the strategies
03:49 - Mindfulness meditation instructions
05:22 - Limiting news consumption
07:12 - Diversifying news sources
09:11 - Loving-kindness meditation
13:01 - Communication skills
16:46 - Action absorbs anxiety
20:55 - Never worry alone
22:55 - Self-compassion
24:49 - Conclusion and request for feedback
It's not just last night or this election in general. It's been nine long, long, LONG years of trying to drink from a firehose of pure insanity. That got old about six years ago.
Thank you for this.
I love the solo episodes, Dan. Keep going.
I’m also leaning into humor, this time around. Jon Stewart is helping. ✌️