Training. Technology. Leadership. Looking ahead to 2025.

Greetings! 2025 is almost here and this is my last newsletter of 2024!

What changes are coming up for you in the new year? I’ve got some big ones in motion that I’ll share with you here, and I need your help!

If you’re wrestling with change yourself, or just trying to keep steady while everything is shifting, there’s a tip in this article that can be useful. (See below)

But let me bring you up to date on the newsletter (it now has a title, “Learning Bytes”), changes in my business focus, and how you can help me.

Newsletter tweaks. Watch for [Learning Bytes] in the subject line of these newsletter articles. I plan to continue these so you can stay in touch with me through the tips and resources I share. Let me know what topics you’d like me to cover. Also, you can always forward these articles to colleagues and visit the Learning Bytes page to see the published issues: https://stevesemler.kit.com/profile

Business changes. After a lot of exploration, I’ve decided to close my Focal Point small business coaching service to concentrate on my leadership training, Positive Intelligence®, and fractional Chief Learning Officer (CLO) work under my LearningSim brand. To ensure we stay connected, please update your records with my LearningSim email: steve@learningsim.com. If you’re a subscriber to my newsletter, please double-check that these emails aren’t being filtered into spam or promotions folders.

Here’s where I need your help. Additionally, I’m seeking new opportunities in corporate learning and development. I’m exploring roles such as Learning & Development or Leadership Development Director/Manager, either on a full-time, fractional, or project basis. My ideal match would be with companies looking to level up their learning capabilities and accelerate the success of their people. C-level HR and tech leaders are my best contacts. Who do you know in either of those roles? Could you make a warm introduction for me as I explore opportunities? I’d be grateful for your insights.

Three words to remember about me: Training. Technology. Leadership.

Training: I help leaders create humane workplaces through training. Everything I do with training, learning, and coaching is about equipping people with knowledge and skills to let them do things they couldn’t before. I have a whole bag of tools to help people learn, grow, and perform in ways that make them successful. I want people to succeed. This is why I do what I do.
Technology: I’m a techie and a learning engineer. I solve problems through psychology and a wide variety of learning technologies. I also focus (as you know!) on turning techies into leaders, giving them the business and people skills to let them lead others with confidence and skill. Tech-oriented companies are some of my favorite clients. But even low-tech solutions (like coaching) can have an extremely high impact. Engineering the blend that offers the best solution is how I do my work.
Leadership: I work most often with leaders because it’s there I can have the biggest impact. Like the pebble tossed into a pond, the ripples I can make by strengthening leaders lift up employees, teams, customers, organizations, families, and communities. I’ve been leading people and growing other leaders my entire career and I can even measure results when asked to do so. Growing strong leaders is my passion.

Check out my portfolio page (updates in progress) on the LearningSim site: https://learningsim.com/portfolio/

With the topic of change in mind, here is a PQ technique for treating yourself with empathy to help you weather changes in your life.

Empathize: Feel Love for Yourself

The empathize power includes a range of emotions, from appreciation to gratitude to empathy, compassion, and ultimately love.

To weather changes and difficulties, one thing you can do is to focus on feeling love for yourself.

Life is challenging! Your Saboteurs have been busy beating you up. Other people's Saboteurs might also be constantly challenging you. And then there are all the challenges that life throws at you with so many things that don't necessarily go your way. All these things are constantly draining you, and you need your Sage to charge you back up. Self empathy--self love--is the most powerful way to do that.

Your Saboteurs would warn you that unconditional self-love would cause you to become lazy, complacent, selfish, or irresponsible. The truth is, you would be charging up your Sage, and your Sage is none of those things. Putting the oxygen mask on yourself is not selfish. It ultimately serves the greater good for everyone else that you care about.

So practice extending unconditional love towards yourself today.

Try this two-step process. Step 1 is to feel love. Step 2 is to direct that love towards yourself. So first, activate the empathy circuitry of your brain. If you prefer, you can call this opening your heart or warming your heart. The effect is that you feel warm, loving feelings.

For Step 1, look at an image that immediately evokes feelings of love. Use your visual sensory centers to activate feelings of love, empathy, and appreciation.

The image you use might be a positive picture of yourself in childhood, one that brings strong, positive feelings for you about yourself.

Or your visual could be something else you choose that brings you those feelings. Like a picture of playing with a puppy, or holding a loved one, or being held by a loved one. Find an image that works for you.

This step activates your empathy circuitry, or opens your heart. Using that visual, you could do this with your eyes closed through imagination, or by looking at the picture. Use the image to help you begin to feel love and appreciation.

Step 2 is to then direct that love energy towards yourself in whatever way works for you. Maybe you imagine giving yourself a big, loving hug. Or you could put your arm around yourself, or say kind words to yourself. Find some way of showing yourself love and appreciation.

So the two-step process is: 1. You feel love using a visual image. 2. You direct that love towards yourself.

You can do this at any time as often as you wish. This is particularly helpful when you notice your Saboteurs beating you up and making you feel bad. It is a powerful counter to Saboteurs beating you up.

We are all a mixed bag of beautiful Sage and off-putting Saboteurs, and life is already challenging enough. Instead of beating yourself up, love yourself. You deserve it. And it will help you deal with all the other challenges so much more effectively because you have access to much more of your best self.

Image by Nik on Unsplash - Ideally, this will make you smile!

This is just one powerful way you can ride the whitewater of change more effectively. (Believe it or not, this even works in a corporate setting!)

It is an intermediate-advanced Positive Intelligence® technique. Contact me if you would like any assistance! As always, I’m here as a resource for ideas, connections, or support. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if I can help in any way.

Wishing you a very positive and successful New Year!

All the best,
Steve

Training. Technology. Leadership. Looking ahead to 2025.

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