Managing Election Stress: On My Mind

Step Out of the Storm of News Stress

As we approach Election Day, stress levels — unlike the stubbornly static polling margins — are climbing to astronomical levels. And given the polarized state of our country, the stress is certainly going to continue long after Election Day and even when a victory is declared.

According to a May 2024 survey by the American Psychiatric Association, 73% of adults are particularly anxious about the presidential election. And as the science shows, when we live in a perpetual state of stress, it takes an awful toll on us. And that can include news-induced stress. A 2022 study in the journal Health Communication found that being addicted to the news was linked to both poor mental and physical health.

It’s not that alarm, distress, concern and outrage are not warranted. The stakes are high. Our leaders’ day-to-day decisions, actions and words have real consequences in real people’s lives. That’s precisely why it’s so important to take back control of where we put our attention and how we react to the constant stream of outrage aimed directly at us. Because only then will we be able to mitigate the effects of that outrage on our lives — and especially on the lives of those most vulnerable among us.

The Stoics teach us that while we can’t control what happens in the world, we can control how we react to it. But when we allow ourselves to be caught in a perpetual cycle of stress, we’ve ceded control of both our emotional reactions and our actions. And when we’re robbed of our inner freedom, we feel like victims.

You can go here to read my full piece in TIME , including seven ways that can help you stop the perpetual cycle of stress and outrage.

My Holiday Gift Guide

Holiday gift season is around the corner — have you made your list yet? Here’s mine, with old favorites and some new additions.

Thrive Phone Bed With the Thrive Phone Bed Charging Station, it’s easy for the whole family to tuck in their phones outside their bedrooms (yes, it comes with a mini-blanket) and wake up as recharged as their phones.

“Onward, Upward, Inward” sweaters from Naadam Beautiful cashmere sweaters embroidered with Thrive's motto — a great reminder that moving onward and upward in life is easier when we also learn to go inward.

Cashmere lounge sets from Naadam Whether you’re lounging at home or on a long flight, these cashmere lounge sets from Naadam are a great way to be cozy and stylish.

“Onward, Upward, Inward” lavender pillow I love this lavender-scented WellNest cushion (with the Thrive motto) by interior architect Shalini Misra. It’s hypoallergenic and made from flax grown with no pesticides or fertilizers. And the lavender, which has been shown to enhance sleep, is sustainably sourced from a family-run farm in New York.

A nightstand makeover: a Pottery Barn Old Fashioned Alarm Clock and a Williams Sonoma picture frame and bud vase I love encouraging my friends to remove the clutter — and their phones — from their nightstands, so this year I’m going to be giving a nightstand makeover: a Pottery Barn old-fashioned alarm clock to remove the ultimate excuse for keeping your phone on your nightstand as an alarm clock; a Williams Sonoma picture frame for a photo that gives you joy; and a bud vase because even a single flower can lift your mood.

Oura Ring I love the sleep data I get from my Oura Ring and the way it helps me take steps to prioritize my sleep and give me a baseline to see how I’m doing. If you go to ouraring.com/thriveglobal, you'll get 10% off their latest Oura Ring 4.

My favorite clean beauty products:

• Josie Maran Josie Maran is the OG founder of clean! Her products, made with clean ingredients and free of synthetic fragrances, feel amazing and are as clean as they feel. My favorite product I’m giving this year is the whipped argan oil body butter.
• Saie Beauty Saie Beauty’s clean makeup products have no toxic ingredients, and I love giving bundles of my favorite lip glosses, blushes and foundation.
• Thrive Causemetics My other favorite clean beauty bundle comes from Thrive Causemetics Inc. and includes their hydrating sleep mask, toner and serum. I also love that they donate to many nonprofits dealing with cancer, domestic abuse, homelessness and more.

Books:

• Speaking of America: United States Presidents and the Words That Changed History, by Jared Cohen It may be a children's book, but adults will love it, too. Through 45 powerful presidential quotes, Cohen brings U.S. history to life. From the Declaration of Independence to the civil rights movement, he shows how the power of words can move people’s hearts and minds — and change the world.
• Priceless Facts about Money, by Mellody Hobson Another great children’s book perfect for all ages. Hobson explores all aspects of money, along with lots of fun facts, in an accessible way that will give any children in your life a boost in financial literacy and prepare them for the future.
• The Thrive Global Cookbook Available later this month, The Thrive Global Cookbook will help people prepare easy-to-make meals with nutritious, budget-friendly ingredients. The cookbook was created in partnership with Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan, and thanks to another partner, Instacart, all the recipes will be instantly shoppable. It features recipes from renowned chefs including Ina Garten, José Andrés, Daniel Humm , Marcus Samuelsson , Hillary Sterling and Candice Kumai , and will be available for free in 11 languages.

Mix It Up This Thanksgiving

Planning your Thanksgiving menu? Here’s a suggestion: mix it up with one new dish. It’s an idea inspired by Nora Ephron, who launched HuffPost’s first annual “Tell Us What You're Cooking This Year For Thanksgiving Dinner That You Didn't Cook Last Year.”

Thanksgiving is a day when family, relationships and food all come together. All of which Nora always combined brilliantly. As she once wrote, “I have made a lot of mistakes falling in love, and regretted most of them, but never the potatoes that went with them.”

So this Thanksgiving, celebrate, as Nora put it, “the thing you've never cooked before on Thanksgiving day, the thing that proves conclusively that you're up for change, that you're not your mother, that you're open to new ideas, that you're flexible and full of surprises and with-it food-wise, even though the truth about Thanksgiving is the exact opposite — it's about ritual and tradition and the same-old same-old.”

Of course, the ritual and tradition are what make Thanksgiving meaningful — and that’s also why a few departures can be special and serve to highlight the traditional items. As Somerset Maugham wrote, “tradition is a guide and not a jailer.”

So this year break out of Thanksgiving jail — or at least take a one-dish furlough.

Here are a few unique, delicious and healthy ideas for inspiration from Thrive Global ’s nutrition director Tess Bredesen.

Wisdom of the Month

At Thrive's tech offsite, Cisco 's chief product officer Jeetu Patel shared the six most important things a company needs to be successful. As he put it, “If you don’t have all six, you don’t win.” Here are two of my favorites and you can read my whole post on Jeetu’s lessons here.

• Timing: We don’t control timing, the market does. You could have the greatest product, but if it’s built at the wrong time, it won’t gain traction.
• Product: Product is the soul of the company. It’s unethical to sell mediocre products — and there are a lot of mediocre products out there… so sweat the details.

BEFORE YOU GO

Fall Back and Get Outside

With the end of daylight saving time, I hope you were able to use the extra hour for more sleep. Don’t forget that, along with the clocks in your home, your body clock also needs to adjust. One way to speed that along is to get outdoor light in the morning, since sunlight helps regulate our circadian rhythms. Hopefully the extra sleep can help you figure out how to change the time on your microwave. If not, if you leave it until March 9, 2025, it will have the right time again.

Have You Voted?

As you may have heard, November 5th is Election Day. So if you haven’t voted early, I hope you’ve made plans to get to the polls (finally — the real ones!) and make your voice heard on Tuesday. As former congressman John Lewis said, “Your vote is precious, almost sacred — it is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have to create a more perfect union.”

Best,

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