After Action 2024 was an online workshop designed specifically for democratic and progressive campaign staff following the 2024 election. On the heels of an incredibly difficult election cycle that left most of us totally burned out, this 5-week workshop provided a structured space for participants to pause, reflect on their work, reconnect with themselves and their communities, and restore back to baseline. For everyone from the first-time staffer to the seasoned campaign professional, After Action 2024 created a home base for reflection, restoration, and community after the election.

Although designed for the post-election period, the science-backed, practical lessons included here are helpful for anytime of the year. Each of the themes have curated lessons from people within our field, including written and video content. Whether you need to Reset, Recalibrate, Reconnect, Restore, or Rejuvenate, the After Action 2024 site has tools to support you. All of the live Zoom sessions can be found at the Zoom Hub, and the Resources page is full of great content to explore further. Feel free to dive into it all! We’re happy you’re here and encourage you to take some time to give a little love and support to the most important asset of all: YOU.

You did it! You spent the last four weeks doing an intentional reset from your 2024 experience and restoring yourself for the work ahead. You are now ready to spend this final week focusing on ways to REJUVENATE yourself for your next phase. This week is all about setting intentions, integrating what you’ve learned, and finding clarity on what you will need to sustain in this work.

But here’s the twist – we’re not rejuvenating you with motivational speeches, inspirational calls to action, and reminders of the urgency of this moment. Instead, we are anchoring you in some time-honored lessons that will set you up for long-term success. We are tapping into ancient wisdom and teachings, highlighting current research, and gleaning wisdom from the people in our field who have been doing this work with clarity, balance, impact, and focus over a long period of time. We will REJUVENATE you with resilience and purpose, not platitudes.

To start, former Congressman Steve Israel will join us to discuss how the ancient philosophy of Stoicism provides us with the wisdom and guidance we need in this moment. As a student of history, a meditator, a Stoic, and a successful politician, Congressman Israel has a recipe for succeeding and sustaining in this work that you won’t want to miss. Join him on Zoom on Wednesday, December 11 at 3pm ET. The Zoom link is here and here: https://zoom.us/j/93973068022.

Then on Thursday, December 12 at 1pm ET, seasoned campaign professionals Emily Parcell from Agency Strategies, Travis Tazelaar from VoteVets, and Steph Noguera from GAIN Power will join us for an in-depth discussion about how to sustain in this field for an entire career. But real-talk: this is not your standard political panel. Emily is going to talk to us about the latest research on happiness – that’s right, happiness. Because if we’re not getting our own happiness equation right, we’re off track right from the start. Travis Tazelaar will share an incredibly helpful framework he learned as a Marine that he now applies in his work as a campaign professional. And Steph will give us her secrets on how she finds balance and clarity in this intense field. Their insight is going to surprise you! The Zoom link is here and here: https://zoom.us/j/92355500283.

Our goal for the end of this week is that you feel ready for 2025 and rejuvenated for the work ahead. We hope this week, combined with the resources form the last four, will give you the tools you need to sustain in the difficult but incredibly rewarding work of campaigns, advocacy, and social change.

Ready? Let’s dive into our final week of the After Action 2024 workshop!

This week After Action concludes the five-week series focused on processing our way through the post-election transition. I’m so excited to join the panel discussion on secrets to long-term success in the work of politics, campaigns, and social change and wanted to give you a sneak peek of what I’m thinking about on this topic. Random aside: one of my FAVORITE newsletters is from Positive Psychology and uses a 5-Bullet Point format I love, so am testing it out here with you.

1. Mind the Gap

As someone who just wrapped up a quarter of a century in this industry, I wish it came with a MIND THE GAP caution sign like the space between the platform and the subway/Metro/Tube/T/El/etc. If we imagine the platform is one job, and the subway car is your next job, that gap between them can feel unsettling. Why is that? Most humans are uncomfortable with the unknown, and the in-between of unemployment presents an additional set of financial challenges, internal and external pressure, and a whole host of generally “ugh” feelings to contend with. How do we prepare ourselves to weather the gap? Some forward-thinking activities (e.g. financial planning and filing for unemployment) can help with the money piece, but to contend with the mental and emotional piece, one place to start is by recognizing the difference between professional success and happiness.

2. All treadmills are torture devices – especially the Hedonic Treadmill.

I walk or run on a treadmill several times a week. It makes my knees hurt. I find it incredibly boring. I’m usually in pain when I’m done. I do it anyway. Mostly because I feel like I should – not because I enjoy it. Sound familiar?

In a pressure-cooker society fueled by social media to acquire/achieve/accumulate/be more, we’re led to believe we should pursue money, power, pleasure and admiration. We’ve been conditioned to equate these things with success, and most of us have internalized success to equate to happiness.

Science has shown traditional trappings of success to be a hologram if your true goal is happiness.

According to Arthur C. Brooks, a leading scholar and professor of the “Science of Happiness,” money, power, pleasure and admiration are the four pillars of what’s known as the “Hedonic Treadmill,” or “hedonic adaptation.” While achievement in these four areas can create a dopamine boost that mimics happiness, our brain is wired to settle back to a “set point of happiness” determined by the true pillars of happiness. This explains why landing the big promotion, getting a raise, or reaching a certain number of followers on social media never feels like enough. We’ve been solving for the wrong equation.

3. Enjoyment + Satisfaction + Purpose = Happiness

In his Managing Happiness course at Harvard, Brooks teaches the formula for happiness is Enjoyment + Satisfaction + Purpose. In her course Psychology and the Good Life, the most popular course offered in Yale University’s 300-year history, Dr. Laurie Santos teaches the formula for happiness is Free Time + Social Connection + Gratitude. In order not to stir up a distracting Ivy League controversy, I will utilize my political skills to suggest they are saying the same thing two different ways.

Brooks gives this simple example to illustrate his formula: pleasure is noticing how tasty Thanksgiving dinner is, while enjoyment is the experience of having dinner among family and friends. Brooks posits that pleasure is a thing, while enjoyment is an action that can only arise when it exists in combination with social connection and gratitude.

Another example from Brooks’ course (which I have taken and highly recommend, it’s offered free online through Harvard X): money sitting in your bank account might be notched as a measure of success, but using some of that money to pay someone to clean your house, mow your lawn, or babysit your kids to create more free time for you to spend on fulfilling pursuits or with friends and family creates satisfaction.

See the difference? Money, power, pleasure and admiration are like Diet Coke. They’re Imitation Happiness. They’re just not as good as the real thing.

4. Inspirational Quote

“Happiness is a choice that requires effort at times.” – Aeschylus

5. Go down the rabbit hole!

If you are a learner like me and want to really dive into the science of happiness, check out these resources:

• Managing Happiness, Harvard X (free online course)

• The Science of Well-Being, Coursera (free online course)

• The Art and Science of Happiness online workshop ($30 - $100)

• Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier by Arthur C. Brooks and Oprah Winfrey (great in-depth exercises and real-life examples in here)

• The Good Life Project podcast

• Ten Percent Happier podcast

JUST FOR FUN. While we’re on the topic of “in-between” stages, did you know the Tibetan term bardo translates to “existence in the interval?” While navigating your own bardo, check out Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders if you love weird historical fiction and are looking for something to do during the Free Time variable of your personal happiness equation.

Rejuvenate is the theme of the week. But how does one rejuvenate after such an intense experience in 2024? And how can we feel rejuvenated and ready when we know some very difficult challenges lie ahead?

In this post, I offer a take on preparing yourself for the next phase that’s likely different from what you’ve heard before. It’s an approach that’s based in history, culture, purpose, and team. This framework is not often what we’re taught in the campaign world, but it’s what we need to hear, and, more importantly, it’s what we need to do – for ourselves and each other.

After Marine Corps bootcamp, I joined my unit expecting more of what I had just experienced: training, exercise, and a lot of time in the field. I got something else I never expected: history. I learned that my unit fought at Guadalcanal, Tarawa and Okinawa. We learned about the Marines who came before us, the places they fought, and the sacrifices they made. The watchful eyes of the past gave us perspective on who we were, who we are, and what we must bestow to those who come after us.

Owen Eastwood’s thought-provoking book Belonging helped me wrap these Marine Corps historical traditions in an intellectual framework. Eastwood describes learning of his Māori heritage and an idea known as whakapapa (far-ka-pa-pa). In Owens’ words “each of us are part of an unbreakable chain of people going back and forward in time… The experiences and wisdom of those who walked in the light before our time are passed on to us.” Whakapapa “tells us you will not be judged by your money or celebrity or sense of self pride… you will be judged by what you did for the tribe.”

Today, as you think about springing forward from this time of reflection into the next phase of your work, I invite you to consider ideas and concepts that are more communal in nature – not just tools that bring along your own renewal and rejuvenation, but tools that can help you better establish a more resilient tribe.

For example, consider togetherness as a long-term competitive advantage. Here’s how to cultivate it:

• Know your teammates and their purpose. When purpose is greater than pain, purpose wins. Discovering why your team members engage in politics and not another industry can have long-range implications for relationships and culture. This isn’t a passive, one-off exercise; it’s an ongoing understanding of the people with whom you work. Knowing their origin story gleans a treasure of information, which can often be borne from vulnerability or trauma, on how to coach someone back to their purpose and by extension back to a place where pain can be subordinated.

• Know what’s in your control and be intentional about planning for it. Almost every time we approach campaign planning, we start with things that are out of our control or only within our influence (raising money, moving voters), rather than those we can fully control: the culture we want to build, the types of people we want on our team, how we respond to setbacks, etc. Design this part of your campaign plan with as much care as you would an organizing program.

• Treat values as verbs. Leadership coach Simon Sinek writes: “By its very nature, scale creates distance, and at distance, human concepts start losing their meaning.” As you begin to take your personal values exercise to scale, you have to think about ways to connect these simple ideas to a group of individuals with different backgrounds, experiences and DNA. In this context, don’t think about what values are, think about what values do. They’re verbs. They translate to concrete behaviors.

The practices above are typically utilized at scale, and they should be. But they also apply on an individual basis, as well. Our daily interactions with any person can either fill them up or leave them empty and stressed. Below are some ideas for how you can fill people up when you interact with them on a daily basis:

• Reciprocate. Reciprocation is an often-overlooked bit of ancient wisdom. It fills the whole world and should be regarded as a fundamental truth in human relations, from the animal kingdom to Newton’s Third Law of Motion. It governs so much of our social and physical world it’s no surprise that nearly every society that’s ever existed has had some form of the Golden Rule.

• Prevent negative ruminations. The human brain is so sensitive it can ruminate for hours or days on a sentence that took you four seconds to utter: a bad mood, a bad joke, thoughtless feedback. The Marines have a saying that we engage our brain before we engage our weapon. Be careful you don’t send someone, who may already be stressed, down the dark path of rumination: it leads to lost time, ambiguity, and confusion.

• Show gratitude. If rumination is a lead weight, gratitude is buoyancy. While I encourage this practice with yourself, extend it to others. Be genuine. Be specific. Be public about it. Don’t show it just for a job well done, show it when someone reifies values and purpose.

The Marines imbued in me what Napoleon so eloquently said when giving a speech to his troops: “40 centuries look down upon you.” My sense of awe is constantly renewed when I think about being part of something so much bigger than I am. This has sustained me in nearly 20 years of political campaigns. Every time I find an awe-inspiring way of working with other humans, I follow Angela Duckworth’s model: I model it, I celebrate it, and I enable it. Let’s be worthy descendants.

Reflection Questions:

• How am I creating a trusting, cohesive environment and breaking the cycle of antiquated leadership patterns?

• Does the path I am forging for myself and others have a heart?

• Is the pursuit of my emotional development as disciplined as my physical or intellectual development?

• What is the performance benefit of the environments I create and the leadership I offer?

Additional Resources:

• Peter Kaufman speech on Reciprocation

• The Evolution of Cooperation by Robert Axelrod

• Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke

• Belonging by Owen Eastwood

• Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek

Travis Tazelaar is a fourth generation military veteran. Immediately after graduating high school, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. As a sergeant, the Marines took him from the Adriatic Sea to the Sea of Japan on missions for the United States. After the Marines, Travis studied Chinese philosophy, politics and warfare at the University of Hawaii and the University of Maryland. Like many of his peers, Travis began a career in politics largely based on a volunteer opportunity for a local campaign. Since 2004, Travis has worked on various levels of campaigns, from gubernatorial to city council, to issue and legislative campaigns, as well as inside nonprofits and government. Travis blends his military experience and his political career through the insight that military strategy and political strategy are based on the same principles.

• Manage your mind

• Practice mindfulness

• Make the best move you can

• Show them a better way

• Be like a rock amongst the waves

• What’s in the way is the way

• Know your purpose

Congressman Israel makes a compelling case for this strategic plan, with some incredible stories from history along the way. Check it out here:

Friends, you are in the home stretch of your post-election “After Action” workshop!

Following what was hopefully a restful holiday break, we are going to spend this week getting you ready for the work ahead. As the election fog clears and we all turn our attention to the future, it’s important we fully RESTORE our minds and bodies from the 2024 experience. Our programming this week will provide you with tools that both prepare you for what’s next and sustain you through the many challenges you may face. Then next week we will REJUVENATE together with some inspiration and guidance on how to have long-term success in this work.

You’ve done an amazing job with your “after action” work so far, and these final two weeks will help get you ready for what’s to come. Keep up the great work!

We kick off our RESTORE week with a focus on breath and movement. Many of us never focus on our breath, but we can’t fully restore ourselves without it - it is foundational for resetting our nervous system and calming our bodies and minds. Breathwork expert Megan Thompson put together five short breathing and movement exercises that you can do whenever you need a quick reset. These practices may feel a little strange at first, and that’s ok – just do what’s comfortable for you. We promise these breathing and movement techniques are helpful for your personal restoration.

Yet even with restorative practices like these, we can’t be fully ready for the work ahead unless we have clarity about why we do this work in the first place. Thankfully, we have seasoned campaigner, coach, and facilitator Jen Pihlaja to help us get connected to our personal values and purpose. Jen prompted us in some reflections last week and now will guide us through an exercise to name our values and find our purpose. Read her thoughtful post about values, and then join Jen on Zoom on Wednesday, December 4 at 4:30pm ET to go through your own personal values exercise. You can find the Zoom link here and here: https://zoom.us/j/95249010406

And finally, we end the week with the amazing Reggie Hubbard and his restorative healing practices. As a long-time activist and community builder, Reggie now teaches changemakers how to find peace and balance in their work. Join Reggie on Zoom on Thursday, December 5 at 2pm ET and experience his incredible wisdom, presence, and healing power. The Zoom link is here and here: https://zoom.us/j/99051818099

With full restoration of your body and mind, along with a deep connection to your values and purpose, our goal by the end of this week is for you to feel refreshed and ready for the work ahead, whatever that might look like for you.

Thank you for being here and making this important commitment to yourself. You are worth it, and this democracy needs you. Let’s get after it!

Join us for an interactive Zoom session today - Wednesday, December 4 - at 4:30pm ET to define your personal values. The Zoom link is https://zoom.us/j/95249010406. See you there!

Hello Friend –

This week, we’re going to do some work on “Defining our Personal Values.”

“Values” is a term that gets thrown around pretty broadly and casually. Many folks who come from, or through, or adjacent to electoral/advocacy/other mission-driven work are often keenly-focused and attuned to the macro values in the work — or at least in their perception of the work, their assumptions. Values come into play when developing a message for someone else – such as a candidate’s stump speech, or approaching a challenging deep canvass conversation, etc. There are lots of examples of how values show up in our external work.

But in our personal and internal work, we might not have taken the time to define what "values" means to us individually. And if we have, we may not have taken the time lately to check in with ourselves on how we’re doing about living a life aligned with our values. This is looking inward – for ourselves. Not for the candidate or boss that we’re working for, the issues that we’re communicating around, or whatever good we are trying to advance in the world. This is for you. What do you value? In this week’s session, we’re going to explore a personal values exercise together.

One of the joys I have in my work is working with individuals who are pausing to reflect, defining their values, and sharing them with each other. Until we can actually SAY what our values are, how can we actually know when we aren’t living in alignment with those values? What is it that we are aiming for? Are we living up to what we want for our own lives, or in how we show up for other folks?

Having a defined and explicit approach to my purpose – rather than an implicit and “oh you know, all the good things” approach OR an approach that is solely focused on goals (go go go) – has been a connectedness game changer for me. Having and naming a set of personal values is an exercise that can be a way to connect with yourself and what is important to you, and the self-awareness resulting from this exercise is worth listening to. Our values are a guide, a mirror, and an anchor when we’re feeling uncertain.

So, can you define what your individual values are?

What will we be doing in this session? What are the goals for our time together? Here they are, in the format of the ABCs – which is how we always set out goals for precious time gathering with other folks. At the end of this time together, what is the goal for us to FEEL (Affective), what will we DO (Behavioral), and what will we KNOW (Cognitive)?

Session Goals (ABC)

The ABC goals for our session on Wednesday are:

• Affective (to feel) — to feel seen, supported, and stretched a little bit

• Behavioral (to do) — to participate, to clarify your individual values in order to feel more connected

• Cognitive (to know) — to know what your individual values are and be able to recall/remember them, so they are a ready tool in your toolbelt to support living and working in alignment, while being more impactful in your life.

So, if you haven’t had a chance yet, here’s the link again to an exercise to explore before the session. Spend some time working on narrowing down your values to 10, 4, and ultimately 2 values, if possible.

Looking forward to seeing you on the Zoom!

With curiosity, compassion and connection –

Jen P

Reflection Questions:

• In this context, what does “values” mean to you?

• Are you able to name your top 3-5 values? What are they?

• What are the ways your values show up…

• In how you approach opportunities?

• In how you approach challenges?

• In communicating with other human beings?

• In setting goals?

• In resolving conflict?

• In other ways?

Jen Pihlaja is the founder of Rowan Strategies – a facilitation, strategic consulting, leadership development, and coaching practice. Rooted in her decades of leadership experience, Jen is deeply committed to shifting professional development – ensuring people feel more resilient, confident, and sustained in their work. As a coach, she is passionate about creating structure and space for people to bring their best-selves and strengths to all of the work that they are doing.

She’s also a veteran of more than a dozen campaign cycles and always happy to connect with folks on their journey. Email: jen@rowanstrategies.com

Find Rowan Strategies at our website, on LinkedIn, and Instagram

2 – Somatic exercise: Release tension in jaw/neck/shoulders
In this somatic exercise session, we’ll focus on releasing tension in the jaw, neck, and shoulders—common areas where stress and emotions are held. Through mindful movement and gentle techniques, you’ll be guided to soften these areas, increase awareness, and release built-up tension. This practice promotes a sense of ease and freedom, helping you feel lighter and more open.

3 – Somatic exercise: Full body reset
In this full-body somatic exercise session, we’ll work through gentle, intentional movements designed to reset and restore your entire system. This practice invites you to tune into your body’s natural rhythms, leaving you feeling grounded, balanced, and re-energized.

4 – Somatic exercise: Hip release
In this somatic exercise session, we’ll focus on a hip reset to release tightness and increase mobility. Through gentle, mindful exercises, you’ll explore ways to unlock tension and build awareness in the hip area, creating space for greater flexibility and alignment. This practice is perfect for anyone looking to restore balance in the hips, relieve discomfort, and feel a renewed sense of freedom and flow throughout the lower body.

5 – Body scan meditation
In this full-body scan meditation, I’ll guide you through a journey of gentle awareness, moving through each part of your body to release tension and cultivate a deep sense of relaxation. This practice invites you to connect with your physical sensations, breathe into areas of holding, and bring a soft presence to any discomfort. Perfect for grounding, this meditation helps you reset and restore, bringing a greater sense of calm and connection to your entire being.

Here are the tools Jen references in the workshop:

• Brene Brown values exercise

• Brene Brown and Kamala Harris podcast

• Live Your Values card deck by Lisa Congdon

Jen’s email for any questions: jen@rowanstrategies.com

If you are interested in continuing to work with Reggie, please join his Resistance Training Series in January! It is a 3-part series, with online events on January 6, January 13, and January 20. After Action participants will receive a 35% discount! You can sign up here and enter code: RESILIENCEWISDOM. If finances are a concern, please let him know on the form – he doesn’t want resources to be an obstacle to anyone interested in participating in the training.

Also, here are two additional practices from Reggie to continue cultivating the restoration and resilience skills he introduced during our session, particularly the need to allow space for anger and to release stress and worry:

• OMG, WTF, Are you MF Serious Meditation Experience

• Distress Dissipation Sound Meditation

You can also follow Reggie online and learn more about his work at the links below.

• Active Peace Yoga website

• LinkedIn

• Insight Timer

• IG: @oreggieglobal

• IG: @activepeaceyoga

• TedX São Paulo: The Power of a Purposeful Pause

• Active Peace Yoga: Youtube

It’s Thanksgiving week and the perfect time to RECONNECT with the important parts of your life that may have been neglected during the campaign – including your people, your places, and your purpose. This is especially important on the heels of our discussion about burnout in week 2, since studies show being disconnected from ourselves, our communities, and our purpose can lead to feelings of burnout. Our goal is to avoid that by helping you find connection this week.

We start with some tips on how to reconnect from the amazing Jen Pihlaja. She offers some great advice on how to connect and reconnect with your friends and family over the holiday break, and then she prompts you in some reflection questions to consider for yourself. In week 4, following Thanksgiving break, Jen will host an After Action Zoom session to help us name our values and find our purpose, which is why we all do this work in the first place. Get excited for that event!

In the spirt of Thanksgiving, we also have a reflection about gratitude from After Action Co-host Kelly Burton. Gratitude is one of those terms that we hear all the time and yet don’t think about enough. Kelly offers a new look on why gratitude is so important in this moment, and she shares a little bit of the science behind why it’s so beneficial. Check it out, and maybe drop some thoughts in the chat – what are you grateful for this Thanksgiving?  

We’re taking a break from the Zooms this week in honor of the holiday, but we’ll be back in December with much more After Action programming that you won’t want to miss!

For now, the After Action 2024 team is heading into Thanksgiving week very grateful for all of you and the amazing work you do for our country.

Hello Friend –

Reconnecting is the theme of the week. 

In this post: 

• We’re naming what heading into this Thanksgiving holiday week may feel like for folks. If you’re spending time with family and friends, we offer some information about ways to connect and re-connect with your people. 

• And last, we’re providing a few reflection questions as you continue to connect with yourself, what is important to you, and what gratitude means for you right now.     

For me, this week always feels different. No matter what chapter of life or stop on the journey, there’s a distinct energy surrounding this week. Thanksgiving. And family. And food. And football games and turkey trots. The bad and the good history. The bad and the good future. Maybe you notice that too. 

That energy isn’t always lighter to carry. For many, it adds layers to what you are already holding, AND it also offers a chance to use two powerful tools in everyone’s tool belts – connecting/reconnecting with others, and gratitude. 

• For many folks, it’s the first time you may see family in a while, or reconnect with old friends, particularly if you’ve been on the road working on a campaign this year. Maybe you’re adding planes, trains, and automobiles to get to that family. Maybe you’re not looking forward to the yard sign your uncle still has out in the yard. 

As a facilitator, I spend a lot of time thinking about how to bring people and groups together in meaningful ways. As a participant in 50 Thanksgiving weekends, I have a few other lessons learned too. 

I love how in this brilliant article, teachers of mine encourage us to make your Thanksgiving about more than the turkey — meaning, that “the phenomenon of human beings breathing, eating, and interacting in the same physical space is an increasingly rare and unique opportunity to create meaningful connections….so don’t waste it on the turkey.”   (Maya and Rae have some excellent suggestions about how to do this too in their article, check it out). 

Reconnecting doesn’t have to be grand plans or gestures. I mean, get after it if you are hosting a dinner for 25, that is GRAND. But if your plan is grabbing take out with your best friend from high school – what can you do to lean into reconnecting? 

You have time. This is the long weekend mini-version of the week of “what day is it?” week in December between Christmas and New Years. So here are three tips: 

1. Think of a better question than, “How are you?” Now, I am ALL about checking in an open-ended and empathic way… AND if the answer isn’t reflexively “fine,” or right now it might be “terrible, obviously”, let’s try to get more specific. It can be specific to the person – or specific about what you REALLY want to know about what you’ve missed in their life (whether you’ve been on a campaign or not).

   1.  Here’s a learning from the kiddos – got asked this once – “What’s something that made you happy this year, Auntie Jen?” Oh kid, thanks for asking. 

2. Spend time together. Not everyone has the same level of wanting to dive into a conversation that may feel like “I feel like we haven’t connected, and I’m asking you a “deep thoughts” question right now….” My family generally doesn’t appreciate when I go there. It doesn’t have to be hard.

   1. For example, is the thing you and your uncle have in common your love of the Chicago Bears? Commiserate about that together. And maybe add a question like, “What was it like the first time you went to a game? Do you remember who took you?” Learn something new about someone you’ve known your whole life.  Maybe share a little with them too. 

3. Express gratitude. There are a lot of ways to do this – I’ve always wanted the family where everyone goes around the table and says something that they’re grateful for. We might have done that once or twice, but mostly we go around with more mashed potatoes. Gratitude is felt and gratitude is shared. 

   1. What are YOU grateful for? Make a list. Send some texts. Write a card. Hug someone and say, “Thank you for everything. I am grateful for you and I love you.” More gratitude tips from positive psychology experts in the resources. 

I’m looking forward to some cooking. And puzzling. And long walks. And finally reading a book that arrived today after 37 weeks on the library hold list. Some of all of those seven kinds of rest that Juli and Abby talked about in week 2. And connecting with the family and chosen family that sustain me, and am I grateful for every single day. 

In a week or so, I’m looking forward to getting an opportunity to connect more with you. We’re going to explore a personal values exercise together in a Zoom session. If you want to spend some time doing homework, check out the link in the resources below.    

With curiosity, compassion and connection –

Jen P

Reflection Questions: 

What connection or re-connection with a loved one will you prioritize this week?  (It doesn’t have to be ALL of them)

• What are you looking forward to?

• How are you going to “make Thanksgiving about more than the turkey”? 

• How do you express gratitude in your life? 

• What do you value? What is important to you?  

Are you able to name your top values? What are they? (Check out Dare to Lead: List of Values - Brené Brown for a place to start.)

Resources:

• Beyond the Turkey by Maya Bernstein and Rae Ringel

• 10 Rules for Post-Election Conversations | TIME

• Gratitude Exercises

• Dare to Lead: List of Values by Brené Brown

Jen Pihlaja is the founder of Rowan Strategies – a facilitation, strategic consulting, leadership development, and coaching practice. Rooted in her decades of leadership experience, Jen is deeply committed to shifting professional development – ensuring people feel more resilient, confident, and sustained in their work. As a coach, she is passionate about creating structure and space for people to bring their best-selves and strengths to all of the work that they are doing. 

She’s also a veteran of more than a dozen campaign cycles and always happy to connect with folks on their journey. Email: jen@rowanstrategies.com

Find Rowan Strategies at our website, on LinkedIn, and Instagram

As Thanksgiving week begins, we are inevitably surrounded with reminders to “give thanks” and “be grateful.” Gratitude is the dominant theme of this holiday, so it can be easy to write off as cheesy and cliché. Thanksgiving = thankful. Check.

But what if “give thanks” was the answer to the gnawing question of “what do we do now?” that we’ve all been asking each other for the past three weeks? What if the most important thing we can do right now is the radical act of being grateful?

To consider:

Gratitude has a huge impact on our own well-being

Science consistently confirms that gratitude doesn’t just make a person feel good; it is a powerful tool for mental and physical well-being. For example, studies show that regular gratitude practice can lead to higher levels of positive emotions, improved sleep, less stress, fewer symptoms of illness, stronger relationships, and more optimism about life. When we express gratitude, our brain releases dopamine and serotonin, which generate a sense of well-being and happiness in our bodies. Y’all, gratitude literally rewires our brains to recognize the positive in our lives. This means practicing gratitude is not just about feeling thankful; it's an active force that shapes our outlook and our outcomes.

Gratitude keeps us connected to each other

In a world where we are struggling to stay connected to each other, a recent study suggests giving thanks can actually reduce feelings of loneliness. This is on top of other studies that found gratitude practices (e.g. keeping a gratitude journal, writing gratitude letters, or simply saying thank you) can lessen loneliness. It makes intuitive sense – if we’re gratitude-minded, we are more likely to notice the good things in our lives, including the people around us. Expressing our appreciation can then strengthen our connection with each other, fostering a deeper sense of community. Gratitude creates a ripple effect of connection across individuals and communities, which is exactly what we need right now.

Gratitude is a foundation for happiness, and action

As the “grandfather of gratitude” Brother David Steindl-Rast says in his famous TedTalk, “It is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.” This means that happiness doesn’t come from the situation itself; it comes from how we experience the situation, which is up to us. And while we certainly can’t expect to be grateful for everything or everyone, Br David reminds us that we can choose to find the opportunity in each moment. How? His “Stop. Look. Go.” formula reminds us to stop rushing, look for the opportunities in each situation, and go take action. This is the foundation for fundamental change. As he says:

“There is a wave of gratefulness because people are becoming aware how important this is and how this can change our world. It can change our world in immensely important ways, because if you’re grateful, you’re not fearful, and if you’re not fearful, you’re not violent. If you’re grateful, you act out of a sense of enough and not of a sense of scarcity, and you are willing to share. If you are grateful, you are enjoying the differences between people, and you are respectful to everybody, and that changes this power pyramid under which we live… What we need is a networking of smaller groups, smaller and smaller groups who know one another, who interact with one another, and that is a grateful world.”

So, when we don’t know what to do or where to start, maybe we start by giving thanks. Maybe that’s how we lay a solid foundation for where we go next, for ourselves and each other. Maybe that’s what this Thanksgiving, with its complicated history and complicated present, is all about. And maybe, just maybe, that’s how we go about changing the world.

Reflection questions:

• What are you grateful for this Thanksgiving?

• What are some ways you practice gratitude?

• Try the gratitude formula of “stop, look, go.” What do you notice?

• How are you reconnecting with yourself, your people and your purpose this week?

Gratitude practice when you’re simply not feeling grateful:

And how might you practice gratitude when you’re simply not feeling grateful? Stephanie Foo, author of the book What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma, has a practice you can try. The steps are below, and you can listen to her walk through the steps here.

1. Take a moment to think about a positive event in your life. It could be a career or educational achievement or a special trip you took.

2. Imagine yourself back in the time of this event. Think about the circumstances that made it possible. 

3. Ponder on the ways in which this event may never have happened. For example, if you hadn’t learned about a certain job opening at the right moment. 

4. Write down all of the possible events and decisions - large and small - that could have gone differently and prevented this positive event from occurring. 

5. Imagine what your life would be like now if you had not experienced this positive event and all the fruits that came from it. 

6. Remind yourself that this positive event did happen and reflect upon the benefits it has brought you. Allow yourself to feel grateful that things happened as they did. 

Resources:

• Brother David Steindl-Rast TedTalk

• Expanding the Science of and Practice of Gratitude at the Greater Good Science Center

• Four Great Gratitude Strategies

• Gratitude Quiz

• How to Practice Gratitude When You’re Not Feeling Grateful (podcast)

• The Science Behind Gratitude (podcast)

Welcome to Week 2 of the After Action 2024 workshop! 

We hope you feel RESET from our first week of programming – with insightful reflection questions from Michelle Kleppe, super helpful tools for relieving stress from Kiara Lee-Benton, and real talk from the NewCo Strategies team about all the ways our minds and bodies need rest. If you missed any of that, make sure to go back and check it out.

From that reset, we’re now going to RECALIBRATE – that is, try to get back to your baseline (i.e. begin to feel like a human again). We have an amazing week of programming to help you do just that!

First, seasoned campaigner and leadership coach Emily Parcell will help us really understand the burnout we feel. Watch for her post on Monday and then mark your calendars for her Zoom session on Wednesday, November 20 at 2pm PT! She will share some critical lessons about how to identify burnout, and how to avoid it in the future.

From there, we’re going to dive into some mindfulness practices. Yes, we know the term “mindfulness” gets thrown around a lot these days. And let’s be real -- how can we really practice mindfulness in a high-stakes, high-stress environment like politics? Amanda Levinson is the perfect person to teach us how. As a seasoned meditator and experienced mindfulness teacher who also runs youth voter engagement campaigns, she knows first-hand how mindfulness practices can help get us through the challenges of this work. Watch for her post on Tuesday and then make sure to join Amanda’s Zoom session on Thursday, November 21 at 4pm ET for an in-person training. We promise you’ll feel better if you do!

And finally, the amazing team at mente will give us some critical insight into how we can successfully balance our activism with our self-care. Too much of one or the other doesn’t work – the key is to find the balance that sustains you over the long term. The mente team knows what this is all about and has some great lessons to share with you. Look for their post later this week.

That’s the plan for week 2! Our goal is by the end of this week you’ll start to feel like yourself again.

As a reminder, here are our three tips for getting the most out of this program: 

1. Use a journal. This can be a hard copy journal or an intentional place to type notes on your computer. Pick a process that works for you to do some written reflections throughout this workshop.

2. Dedicate some time each week. This workshop will provide you with the tools, but it’s up to you to put in the work. Read the posts, join the Zooms, watch the videos, and dedicate the time for your own “after action” reflections. You are worth it.   

3. Stay open and curious. Some of the content and practices might be new for you – that is by design. This is an opportunity for you to work different muscles and take a different approach to your post-election experience. Try some new things, hold it lightly, and take with you what works for you.

With this work, you are laying a critical foundation for yourself to sustain through the weeks and months to come. We celebrate you for being here and doing this part of the work. See you in the chat and on the Zooms!

P.S. If you are in a job transition, we highly recommend signing up for GAIN Power’s Talent In Transition series that kicks off this week. You’ll hear from some incredible speakers and have the opportunity join networking sessions with potential employers. You can sign up here to join!

When I founded the direct mail firm AGENCY ten years ago this spring, I set out on my own without a salary and with no experience starting or managing a business. What I did have were two kids under the age of three, a looming cross-country move and a lot of imposter syndrome. Looking back, I wish I could tap myself on the shoulder and say, "Hey, this feels like...a lot?"

But 15 years in politics had shattered my Stress Meter. I had no awareness of the effect stress was having on my body or my long-term health. Case in point: I went into labor at a campaign retreat after breaking doctor-ordered bed rest to attend. And just a week later there I was, pitching a gubernatorial candidate with my newborn asleep on my shoulder.

That is not normal.

Unfortunately, in the political arena, many of us normalize self-neglect. Most without realizing it. Subsisting on cold pizza and Diet Coke. Wearing t-shirts with slogans like “Late to bed, early to rise, work like hell and organize.” Cheering politicians who implore us to “sleep when we’re dead.”  

All of that is burnout culture.

In our Understanding Burnout workshop, we’ll cover:

• How to identify the signs of burnout culture

• Health risks associated with burnout

• The common symptoms of burnout

• What you can do about it

Before we meet, take this free Burnout Test from Psychology Today to get a better sense of where you currently are on the burnout spectrum. Armed with your Burnout Score, you’ll better understand what action steps are critical to take in the short-term, and through our workshop you’ll be given the information you need to notice changes in your burnout levels over time.

We can each be part of changing the culture of professional politics to one that prioritizes self-care and wellness. This is a critical part of keeping the best and brightest operatives prepared for the long fights ahead. By living the model you’re learning in the After Action series, you can move the needle toward a more productive, healthy, aligned network of changemakers.

Feel better. Be better. Do better.

Where are you on the Stress Meter, and what are some things you do to handle stress? Drop your thoughts in the comments section below, and I look forward to seeing you on Zoom on Wednesday, November 20 at 2pm ET.

For a deeper dive into the topics we’ll cover in Understanding Burnout, check out these sources:

Books 

• Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily and Amelia Nagoski

• Stress Resets by Dr. Jennifer L. Taitz

• Real Self-Care by Dr. Pooja Lakshmin

• Set Boundaries, Find Peace by Nedra Glover Tawwab

• Boundary Boss and Too Much by Terri Cole

• Ten Percent Happier by Dan Harris

• How To Do the Work by Dr. Nicole LaPera

Podcasts

• The Good Life Project with Jonathan Fields

• Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris

• Tara Brach Podcast

• The Terri Cole Show

Social Media

• Dr. Nicole LePera

• Dan Harris

• Arthur C. Brooks

• Jonathan Fields

• Nedra Glover Tawwab

• Terri Cole

Emily Parcell marked her 25^th year in politics in 2024. A veteran of six presidential campaigns, multiple U.S. Senate races and a former State Legislative Caucus Director, Emily’s work has covered roles at every level of organizing, a short dabble in finance and scheduling, and senior positions on political and management teams. She began her consulting career at MSHC Partners, was a founding member of the team at Pivot and launched AGENCY from her basement laundry room in 2015.

AGENCY’s mission is one of empowerment – empowering voters to exercise their agency at the ballot box and electing public servants who believe in the fundamental right to personal agency.  AGENCY has actively expanded the voices of representation across the country, serving as part of the strategic team for the first woman elected to Congress from Emily’s home state of Iowa, the first Native American woman elected to Congress, the youngest Black woman elected to Congress, the first South Asian American woman elected to Congress, the first Asian American elected to the Wisconsin Assembly, the first Latino elected to the Nebraska legislature, and the first transgender member of the Iowa legislature.

In addition to her political work, Emily holds ICF health and life coaching certifications from Health Coach Institute and her career coaching certification as a Certified Sparketype Advisor. She has completed professional certificates in Managing Happiness and Building Resilience: Managing Anxiety and Mental Health from HarvardX.

You can connect with Emily on Substack @emilylowe, on X @emilyparcell, on Instagram @lowe171 and on Facebook @Emily Parcell Lowe. For more information on her coaching work, visit BellwetherCoach.com or email coaching@agencystrategies.com

It’s two weeks out from the election. How are you really feeling?

If you don’t know how to answer that question, you’re not alone. It’s common to feel disconnected from our true inner state following a period of intense stress and even burnout.

If that’s the case for you, I invite you to pause, right now. Close your eyes and notice your breathing for a few moments. Then take a quick scan through your body to notice how your body feels. Are there areas of tightness? Are you noticing feelings of fear? Are you relatively relaxed?

Notice what’s happening inside of you. Name it.

You’ve just experienced a few moments of mindfulness, which is often described as the practice of paying attention to the experience of the present moment in an accepting and non-judgmental way. The great Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh describes mindfulness as the practice of being fully present and fully alive.

After the intensity of the campaign, you might find yourself feeling exhausted and mentally scattered. Even in a “normal” election year, the intense, nonstop pace of campaigning can throw the most balanced people off-kilter, leaving you feeling disconnected from your inner stability. And this was no normal election year.

As a seasoned meditator who also ran a youth voter engagement campaign this year, I have found myself feeling unmoored in recent weeks. Anxiety, fear, and dread have been my constant companions. But thanks to my mindfulness practice, they are not running the show.

How does mindfulness help with post-election feels?

Through simple, intentional practices, you can reconnect with yourself, release built-up stress, and set a foundation for sustainable wellbeing moving forward.

Here’s how mindfulness can help you recalibrate post-election, and some invitations to reflect on how you might weave mindfulness into your daily life right now:

1. Grounding in the present moment: Mindfulness can help you move out of “campaign mode” and back into the present, cultivating awareness of what’s happening here and now, instead of staying in a reactive, high-alert state.

Reflection questions:

• What sensations or emotions am I feeling in my body right now as I transition out of campaign mode?

• What parts of my daily life have I lost touch with that I’d like to reconnect to?

2. Processing emotions: While election years are always emotionally intense, this year was especially so.  Mindfulness provides space to acknowledge and process emotions that may have been ignored, reducing the risk of burnout or emotional exhaustion.

 Reflection questions:

• What emotions surfaced for me during the election that I haven’t fully acknowledged or processed?

• How did the election impact my emotional wellbeing, and what emotions feel most present now?

3. Releasing tension in the body: Mindful body scans, breathing, and simple loving-kindness practices can ease physical tension accumulated during high-stress periods, bringing a sense of relief and relaxation.

Reflection questions:

• Where in my body am I holding onto tension from the election season, and what can I do to gently release it?

• What does my body need right now?

4. Rebuilding or establishing a self-care routine: Mindfulness encourages a gentle return to self-care habits, helping you reconnect with routines that nurture your overall well being.

Reflection questions:

• What are three self-care practices I can reintegrate into my routine to support my recovery and mental clarity?

• How has my sense of balance or self-care shifted, and what steps can I take to return to or improve it?

5. Moving forward: As you move forward, mindfulness can help you approach future work and challenges differently.

Reflection questions:

• What lessons did I learn from this election season that will help me approach future challenges more mindfully?

• How can I use mindfulness to sustain my energy and clarity in future projects and demanding periods?

Simple Mindfulness Practices to Bring You into the Present Moment

Practice these anywhere, anytime:

1. 5 Senses Practice:

• Name 5 things you can see

• Notice 4 things you can hear

• Feel 3 things you can touch

• Notice 2 things you can smell

• Notice 1 thing you can taste (or even notice absence of taste)

2. Belly breathing: place your hand on your belly, or lie face down on the floor. Breathe deeply enough into your body that you feel your belly rise. Follow the breath for a few minutes as it enters and leaves your body.

3. Mindful Walking
   Take a walk and focus on the experience of walking. Pay attention to the feeling of your feet touching the ground, the rhythm of your steps, and the movement of your body. Observe your surroundings, name what you are seeing.

Do you have a mindfulness practice that really works for you? Drop some thoughts in the comments below!

And please plan to join us on Zoom on Thursday, November 21 at 4pm ET where we will go through some of these practices together. https://zoom.us/j/99232621294

Free Mindfulness Meditation Resources

• Insight Timer

• Free guided meditations from UCLA

• Insight Meditation Society

• Free 40-day Meditation Program with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach

Websites and Books about Mindfulness

• Mindful: A good website with lots of articles about mindfulness

• A Fierce Heart: Finding Strength, Wisdom and Courage in Any Moment by Spring Washam: A gorgeous, down-to-earth introduction to mindfulness

• The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh - A simple and profound guide to mindfulness from the renowned Zen master.

• Mindfulness for Beginners by Jon Kabat-Zinn - A concise and practical book with guided meditations to start your practice

Online Sanghas (meditation communities)

• BIPOC Meditation Collective

• Insight Meditation Society

Amanda Levinson is a social entrepreneur, mentor, creative civic innovator, and embodiment coach. From 2016-2023, she was the co-founder and COO of NeedsList, a women-led tech startup focused on directing resources to communities affected by crises. She's a cofounder of Bill City Votes, a grassroots voter engagement initiative in Durham, NC, as well as cofounder of Voting Arts Lab, an arts-driven initiative inspiring youth to vote in North Carolina and beyond.  She teaches mindfulness and nervous system regulation techniques to caregivers, organizers, and entrepreneurs. You can find her at amandalevinsonembodiment.com.

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