(Written Nov 5, 2025)

I’ve had the privilege of working with elected officials since 2013, which has given me some insights into the election process over the years. 

No matter what you think of the person running for office, several things are probably true. They are likely passionate about holding the office. Their families and close friends have probably bought into the idea. Campaigning is exhausting.

The results of the election, positive or negative, can be grief-filled.

Additionally, sustaining passion, buying into a campaign, and being exhausted may be true for you if you’ve supported a candidate, physically, financially, and/or mentally. 

Change is grief. Hard work that doesn’t have the results you expected leads to grief. Leaving something behind and starting something new, holds within it grief.

Grief is not a five-letter word. It is an everyday reality.

It’s ok to feel grief after an election.  It’s ok to experience denial, anger, a desire to bargain, even depression, at least for a time.

When you begin to feel an inkling of acceptance, or really anytime in the grieving process, psychological capital’s HERO (hope, efficacy, resiliency, and optimism) can help us live and move with our grief.

If you’re feeling the grief of an election season, you might try these things to help activate your HERO.

1. Knowing hope is both willpower and way power, try activating your hope by reaching out to a candidate you supported and thanking them for running. Be specific about why you supported them. This small, willful act might just provide a way forward for you both as you recognize those things that made you thankful for their passion. 
2. Knowing efficacy is a belief in yourself, try activating your efficacy by physically, financially, and/or mentally supporting something else that has piqued your interest. Choosing to pursue your passions and interests will help you strengthen your belief in yourself.  
3. Knowing resilience is about bouncing back, try activating your resilience by deciding to keep pursuing what interests you, no matter how far out of your normal box it seems. Today, do one thing that seems just a tiny bit beyond you. Each decision for yourself that results in a positive action, no matter how small, will help you bounce back.
4. PsyCap optimism is not all about the positive; it acknowledges the negative is part of the picture and chooses to focus on the positive. Try activating your optimism by continuing to follow those who were elected to office. Take a look again at the candidates who won, especially those you did not support. Is there anything about them, their plans, their supporters, or their family that sparks a teeny tiny flame of optimism? What about the composite of people holding similar offices – is there a tiny spark there? Perhaps just the fact that you are reading this post is an act of optimism. In the end, it’s ok if you can’t find a spark right away. Not all the components of HERO are obvious all the time.

I hope these ideas get you thinking about some ways you can activate your HERO in times of election grief. If you’d like to share some other HERO ideas, please take a moment to comment.