A small mindset hack for a *big* change

Never manually input cells again

August 01, 2024

Hello and happy August! I’m writing to you from a sunny coffee shop in the Hamptons with a 10-foot-high wooden ceiling. ☕️ Ever since I discovered that high ceilings put us in a mindset of creativity and freedom (it’s true!), I’ve been working from a high-ceiling room almost every day. Try it yourself!

Never Manually Input Cells Again With This Function 

Imagine you’re doing inventory for your local ice cream shop. 🍦 The rule is simple: Just re-order more of an ice cream flavor whenever there are fewer than two gallons left.

The question is…how do you manage inventory? Should you manually input cells?  

Not around here, you shouldn’t! Let me show you a way more efficient way to handle inventory. 

Step 1) In your desired cell, use the formula =REPT(“Message”, Logical Test). For us, our formula would be =REPT(“Reorder”, B2<$G$1) 

Step 2) Copy for remaining cells. That’s it! 

And if the condition ever changes—say you want to start reordering when you hit three gallons instead of two—you can easily adjust your formula. 

A Small Mindset Hack For a Big Change

Earlier this summer, I was chatting with an aspiring entrepreneur (let’s call her Jenn). Jenn had eight years of experience as a product manager but wanted to pivot as a career coach on Instagram. 

Jenn started explaining her predicament: “I want to launch this business but there is so much I have to do. I have to create tons of Reels and Stories. I also have to decide if I want to keep or quit my job.” 🫠

Jenn was stressing herself out 🫠 

I stopped her and suggested: “Why don’t you switch the ‘have tos’ to ‘get tos?’”

Why? It’s no wonder Jenn was resisting becoming a content creator—she was using language (i.e. “I have to”) that framed it as a burden. 

The reality is that we can change the way we perceive things just by changing the way we talk about them. For example: 

  • Jenn goes from “I have to post content” to “I get to offer my knowledge and potentially help thousands of people online.”

  • Or “I have to decide what to do with my career” to “I get to steer my career path in the exact direction that’s right for me.” 

This is one of my favorite brain hacks. It’s such a simple switch—but it helps you go from intimidated and unmotivated to excited and grateful in seconds. 

And when you’re tapped into those emotions, there is almost nothing you can’t do. ✨

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Thanks for being here! A quote that I love from entrepreneur Steph Smith: “How to be great? Just be good, repeatably.” 

Amen. 👏 Being “great” is the result of doing small things—finishing one Excel module, posting one Instagram, doing one gym session, etc.—over a long period of time. What’s one thing you can do today to be great?

Stay Exceling,

Kat