40 days: Eyes on the prize

Ignore the polls, go on a news diet, protect your peace

Are you a paid political analyst??

No? Neither am I.

That being said, if you’re like me you like to feel plugged in. And you probably care passionately about your community, your country, society, the children, animals, justice and/or the world.

So I totally understand if you are keeping a close eye on everything that’s happening. I also understand if doing so is beginning to take its toll on your sense of mental wellbeing. It’s not news that there is too much news. We are bombarded every day with new headlines, new polls, new pleas for support (and money) from countless organizations and candidates and causes.

I’m not going to try to diagnose compassion fatigue or emotional overwhelm. I am going to tell you it’s OK to keep your eyes on the only prize that you can control awarding, and that’s your attention. And for me, the three things that require my attention as we headed into the home stretch of this election season are these:

1. Whether I will vote or not

2. How I will vote

3. How I will talk to other people about why I’m voting and how I’m voting

Before reading, watching, or listening to something, especially if I already know it’s going to aggravate, anger, or terrify me, I ask myself: Will this change whether I vote? Will it change how I vote? Will it change how I talk to people in my circle about whether, how and why I’m voting? If the answer is no, then I move on.

Anything else is a distraction, possibly fueled by disinformation, and certainly distorted by editorial decision-making.

Do I still create and share content online in support of my goals? Yes.

Do I have my house and car decked out with signs, flags, and bumper magnets? Yes

Do I ask strangers whether they’re registered to vote as a way to start conversions? Yes.

Do I text bank (my campaign contribution of introverted choice? Yes.

And PS: If you need some support on articulating why you support your choices and what you’re for, rather than just what you’re against, here is a recent examples a friend posted that I found super helpful:

Why I am voting for Kamala Harris, not just against the other guy

But, yeah, I ignore the polls and put myself on a news diet, and I told the world about it on TikTok:

@elisacpMaybe some polls are making you happier right now, but the trick to keeping your #mentalhealth on even keel is to do things like go on a #Newsdiet and #ignorethepolls even when they’re telling you stuff you like. Is it going to change: -Whether you vote? -How youll vote? -How you talk to people about how you’re going to vote? No? Then keep your #eyesontheprize #Kamala2024 #IgnorethePolls #ForProfitMedia #bluewave #2024 #harriswalz2024🇺🇸💙🇺🇸💙 #LFG #childlesscatlady #fyp #foryoupage

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And in case you’re wondering why I don’t consider polls worth my attention, here’s more on that:

@elisacpExplaining why i #IgnorethePolls. I don’t need polls to know that my vote is critically important as is yours. And Paull won’t change how I vote either. All polls do is at stress and anxiety into my headspace. If they’re not gonna change your actions, why let them change your mindset? #childlesscatlady #Kamala2024 #HarrisWalz2024 #LFG #FYP #foryoupage #2024 #bluewave

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I am mentoring a few people on following my news diet approach, and they report sleeping through the night, getting more work done, and discontinuing gnawing on their fingernails (OK, that last one is me). Give it a try.

How are you protecting your peace and your mental well-bring as the election approaches?

What else is going on?

Optionality is meeting IRL in Silicon Valley

We’ve scheduled our first IRL meet-up for Optionality members (or for the optionality-curious). It’s happening this coming Wednesday, October 2nd from 3-5PM in Silicon Valley (San Jose to be exact), hosted by Extreme Networks, and celebrating the launch of Optionality member Maria Ross’s latest book: The Empathy Dilemma.

We’ll be talking about balancing compassion, performance, and personal boundaries whether working on a corporate team or working with a cohort of clients. There will of course be the opportunity to mix and mingle, then I’ll interview Maria about her 5 Pillars of Empathetic Leadership, before we head into a round of story-sharing from the attendees and guests. We’ve all seen empathy (or the lack thereof) in action, so bring your stories!

Attendance is capped at 30, so to learn more, see the detailed agenda, and RSVP, go here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/optionality-irl-the-empathy-dilemma-tickets-1010123866677

A couple of other links:

1. This week Helen Jonsen welcomed me as a guest to her new podcast, The Kaleidoscope Career. it’s a tight 30-minute tour of my admittedly peripatetic career, from actress to finance to tech to media entrepreneur to author to future of work activist. Helen is great at finding through lines I never really articulated myself. yes, I took notes!

2. The genconnectU accredited Women in Leadership Diploma program was such a success in its first iteration that it’s already scheduled its next two rotations. The next one starts in 18 days on October 14th. It’s all online and much of it is go at your own pace. I will once against lead a module on modern and mutual mentorship. A little bonus: If you use the code WIL10, you get 10% off the tuition.

That’s it for today. Until next time, please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts on any or all of the above. This is basically my blog now! And as always, I appreciate a share of Optionality and this newsletter.

Thanks for reading!

-E