A Gentle Start

You are what you've been looking for.

Hi friends!

Welcome to 2026. I hope this year brings you freedom, fun, and a little healthy rebellion. And I hope you’re taking the time to ease into the year slowly.

The L&D industry was hit really hard last year. So many of us experienced hard times: layoffs, underemployment, reorgs that including reporting to leaders who don’t know learning. I have hope this year will be different and that companies will start to realize the value of solid learning professionals.

This month, we’re talking about how a slow, steady start to the year can set you up for success later on. If you’re able to make good decisions and place good boundaries now, you won’t burn out by May and wish it was December by August.

---

Gut Check

This section is titled this because last year, I started honing a skill I haven’t in a very long time — my intuition. I started listening to my “gut” more, and I started noticing how my body felt a certain way when I knew something wasn’t right. It’s that same feeling as when you’re watching a scary movie, and someone is walking into a dark room, and you know it’s a bad idea. Like when a dog’s hair stands up on its back as it starts that low, quiet growl.

As a recovering people pleaser, I think it’s important for us to learn to notice those feelings because it helps us set boundaries before it turns into a crisis or apology. Now, I get a gut feeling when I know something isn’t right or isn’t right for me: collaborations, emails that seem too good to be true about job opportunities, etc. And as my wonderful life coach once pointed out to me, I’ve never regretted turning something down based on a gut feeling.

One exercise I’ve tried was simple, and I’ll share it in case you want to try it. Disclaimer: I’m not a mental health professional, so please don’t try this if negative emotions are triggering for you.

Find a quiet place to sit comfortably where you can close your eyes for a while (without falling asleep). Close your eyes and imagine something that makes you feel a negative emotion that isn’t too difficult for you to handle (e.g., stress, anxiety, disgust). If you’re trying to recognize what disgust feels like in your body, for example, you might imagine a gross bug or dumpster full of garbage. Are your shoulders tensing? Your cheeks? Does your stomach or jaw clench? Do you close your hands or pull them back? Now, do the same thing but for a positive emotion (e.g., joy, hope, confidence). Compare the differences you noticed in your body. This will help you become more aware of your gut reaction and what it means.

---

One Useful Thing

I had the wonderful pleasure last August of being able to contribute to Spark Magazine an article called "Why Saying No Makes You More Useful."

Every time you accept a project that isn't aligned with business goals or accept a problem that can't be solved by training, you're wasting time and company money. Being able to say no to work in your organization or with certain clients is about being intentional — you don’t just say “no thank you” and walk away.

We always talk about accidental designers and trainers in our field, and I think sometimes that we forget that at some point that accident needs to turn to intention to be truly effective. In the article, I give tips on how to push back when presented with projects you want to say no to and how to frame it so that you don’t look difficult.

Every time I have turned down a project, even when my bank account was begging me to say yes, I've reclaimed a little more agency over my time, my energy, and the impact I want to make.

I've said "no" to lucrative opportunities that didn't align with my values. No to clients who wanted a yes-woman, not a partner. No to over-functioning in relationships, both personally and professionally.

And it's always carved space for work that better aligns. (To those of you who have been good at this for a long time, you already know!)

---

Inside the Revolution

This is a new segment in the newsletter this year. If I’m staying in the L&D industry, it’s time for a revolution. I’m done with accepting that “this is how we’ve always done it,” but I’m also not racing toward the next AI shiny thing. It’s time for pragmatism, knowledge, research, and innovation to win.

So, for this month’s revolutionary take, I would love to shoutout the amazing research my friend Zainab Fawzul has done on Articulate Rise updates since its launch. Please take the time to read it… it says so much more than I can say here!

She’s tracked how a $1.5B investment led to a flurry of low-impact updates, clunky workarounds, and long-ignored feature requests. Through timed development tests, sustainability red flags, and update impact data (that was fact-check by me and Ashley Chiasson), Zainab makes a compelling case for why we deserve better tools — and why uncritical loyalty to legacy platforms is holding our industry back.

It’s a data-driven, future-focused rallying cry for smarter choices in L&D.

---

Take With You

This month I’d love for you to first answer this question: what are you excited or nervous about this year? Then, I want you to genuinely consider whether that thing might actually benefit from slowing down..

Happy New Year!

- Heidi 🥂🪴