Ugh, Trump Round 2.

I did not handle the first Trump Administration well. Here is how I'm looking to better prepare myself for the marathon ahead.

Photo by Jan Huber on Unsplash

So, I'm not going to sugarcoat it. It's really bad that Donald J. Trump was elected president of the United States of America.

I think the only little bit of something quasi-positive I can find about the situation is that it was a decisive victory. There is no ambiguity between the popular vote and the electoral college vote. There is no hiding behind anything because it's all out there in the open. We are a Democratic Republic, and the process played out the way it was meant to do. In doing so, we are spared the toxicity and poison of claiming that there was cheating, styling, or anything else. It's not much, but yeah, that's about as positive as I can personally spin it.

This country wants Donald J. Trump. It's difficult to process that fact, but there is no use in pretending otherwise.

The bigger question is what am I going to do about it? During the first Trump Administration, I did not handle myself well. I let that chapter in American life consume me. I was obsessed. I was checking Twitter all the time. I was compulsive about reading every news story. I forced conversations on the topic of politics.

Frankly, I feel pretty embarrassed by how I handled it. I deleted all the “Resistance Era Jake” tweets from Twitter. I legitimately thought that by giving the national emergency all my focus, I was going to change something.

Thankfully, from 2021 to now, I was able to take some time to think about it all. Now, as we are about to do this all over again, I’m interested in taking those lessons and figuring out how I will endure what comes next.

I’m focusing on the following:

• My integrity and doing good

• Being present for my wife, kids, and friends

• Working out and staying physically healthy

• Having a good news diet

• Being aware of what I can control

• Not catastrophizing by taking intrusive thoughts about a potential situation captive

• Writing

• Making films

• Watching films

I found this video from The Daily Stoic to be really clarifying and helpful about who I want to be and how I want to do it.

Being and Doing Good

The first job in my life is to work on being a good man so that I can be a good husband, father, and friend. That’s the whole ballgame. Everything is downstream from being a good man. That is where the majority of my focus will be for the next four years, the four after that, and onward.

I work out and stay healthy so I can achieve that goal. I need to keep my body in good shape, but also, it helps my mind as well. (Although, fittingly, I threw my back out this morning working out, so it’s not like there aren’t some challenges in that arena too.)

Seeing somebody like Trump prosper is very hard. In my darkest moments, I wonder why it is worth striving to be a person of integrity and character. I mean, seeing somebody like him get away with everything is not fair.

The answer is because when I look in the mirror, I want to be proud of the person looking back at me. Trump is a sociopath, so who knows what he sees. Still, all those people around him must know. I mean, we can see it in their eyes. I don’t want those dead eyes looking back at me.

A Healthy News Diet

I have deleted every social media app aside from Instagram off my phone. That one is media-based, so it makes sense. For everything else, I’ll be on the desktop. I will get all the news alerts I need anyhow. I will also not be partaking in the Twitter public square anymore. It’s a toxic and vile place.

I also don’t need to follow, like every detail. I do believe that it is the duty of every American citizen to be informed, but that doesn’t mean you need to drink from the fire hose of headlines. Most of the stories that are being reported on will be washed away anyhow.

I will subscribe to the game app with a blog known as The New York Times. Although, to be honest, it’s mostly because I want access to the gaming apps. Plus, they do some good reporting occasionally.

On the whole, the American media has failed to understand the moment in 2016, learned nothing from it, and continued to fail in 2024. It's not going to change. It will be the same sanitized format, pointless panel conversations, and obsession with "balance." You want a truly expert, independent, sober, clear-eyed, and no BS place to send your hard-earned subscription dollars? I recommend The Bulwark.

This started by a bunch of never-Trump Republicans, many from a magazine called The Weekly Standard. They refused to go along with Trump and paid a price. Rather than falling apart, they picked up everything that they lost and put together this organization that is truly wonderful, and I have been a subscriber for four years.

I could not be more proud of them, the road we have travelled, and the one we are on now.

Please, check them out and tell them Jake sent ya.

What Can I Control?

Part of the reason why I need to be so diligent about my news diet is that every day will be filled with dreadful stories. It will do me no good to get spun up about the things that won’t matter and that I can’t control. When there is something for me to act on, I will act. It will be hard enough not to catastrophize over everything that happens, much of which won’t come to pass.

Listen, I don’t know what Trump will do, and he doesn’t know what he will do.

It’s far better to keep informed, but also discern when it’s time to act. I can’t do that with tons of information coming at me all the time.

Movies, Movies, and Also, Movies (Plus, TV, Music, and Reading)

Movies are a way for me to relax. Going to a movie theater re-invigorates me. Writing and making films is a better use of my time than social media. Watching TV with my wife is wonderful. Music is also pretty great. Books, I mean, come on this isn’t a profound statement, but reading is great. I always feel better after I’m done reading.

If I’m going to take care of myself, making time for art is going to be paramount.

Listen, if you got this far, I hope it is abundantly clear that I’m not tapping out or disassociating from the current moment. Quite the opposite, I’m preparing for the marathon that lies before me. That lies before us all.

I need to take care of myself so I’m effective. Spinning out like I did back in 2016 through 2020 did not help anything.

I love the United States of America. I love it when things are good, and I love it despite things being bad. The only way for this experiment of democracy to not only survive, but to thrive, is for us all to be engaged in it.

There is a lot of work to do. I’m proactively taking steps to make sure that I’m able to do it to the best of my abilities.