100% Success Rate

SUMthing isn't right

Happy August! ☀️ My travel days are slooowin’ down, and between you and me, I’m relieved. 😅 I used to be a digital nomad, which was an incredible experience. But after 16 (!) months on the road, I was so ready to settle back down. There’s nothing like feeling grounded. 🌱

- Kat

SUMthing Isn’t Right

Excel’s SUM function is a blessing—but it can also be a curse! 👻

The SUM function allows us to add numerical values, which is useful when you’re adding anything from dollar sales to units sold. But sometimes when you attempt to run the SUM function it. Just. Won’t. Work. Why?! 😭

A quick Google search reveals I’m not the only one who’s run into this frustration:

The culprit? It’s *probably* because your number values are actually text.

If you’re importing data from another worksheet, there’s a solid chance Excel has registered certain cells as text (not numbers). Luckily, the fix is easy. In Excel, numbers default to the right-hand side while text is left-aligned. That’s the easy-peasy way to identify numbers that have been imported as text.

Because the SUM function ignores text, it won’t include these left-aligned cells—leading to a messed-up calculation. Not fun! But here’s the easy fix I promised:

1. Select all text you’d like converted.

2. Click on the warning sign in the top-right corner of an offending cell.

3. Select “Convert to Number.”

4. Marvel! 🤩

In case the warning sign doesn’t come up for you, don’t sweat it—you have another workaround. In this 16-second video, I break down another method you can use to make SUMone proud (AKA you and your boss 🙃).

Do you have an Excel problem you’d like solved? I’m on it. 🕵️ Reply and let me know what you’d like me to tackle in a future newsletter!

If You Don’t Give Up, Your Success Rate is 100%

If you were 100% sure that you could accomplish your dreams, would you:

A) Work your butt off to do everything you could to make it a reality.

B) Sit there, twiddle your thumbs, and wait for it to happen.

Before Miss Excel bloomed, I spent lots of nights creating TikToks and Excel lesson plans. I was trying to juggle the brand while maintaining my full-time job (and side hustle 😵). It was intense! But I knew my relentless efforts would pay off. Let me explain.

When it comes to our goals, many of us procrastinate—or worse, never take action. It’s partly because we don’t believe in ourselves, which leads to discouraging outcomes:

But here’s the thing: Your level of success correlates with your belief system.

If you’re convinced you can achieve your goals, you get the strength to overcome limiting beliefs, the confidence to take action, and the patience to trust the journey—however long it might be.

This unwavering faith means you won’t:

💣Abandon taking on new projects even if the first one bombed.

🤳Give up on becoming a TikToker because your first dozen videos got no traction.

📈 Stop working in Excel because someone said the market is “saturated” (true story).

If you don’t give up, you have a 100% success rate. By constantly iterating and showing up, there’s no way you won’t get somewhere. It’s like the gym—you can’t go every day for 10 years and not see results!

But for the journey to begin, you have to believe in what you’re capable of. As author Roy T. Bennett once said, “Your only limitations are those you set upon yourself.”

  • Here’s how the dollar sign can help with your next Excel function. Cha-ching!

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  • My secret to building the Miss Excel brand? Messy action. Here’s what I mean.

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This is your reminder to try and get some sunlight within 15 minutes of rolling out of bed. According to research, even just a few minutes of sunshine first thing in the AM triggers your melatonin production sooner—meaning you’ll sleep easier that night.

Who knew!? 😴

Keep Excelerating,

Kat