76% of people regret this the most 💭

Hey there! I hope you had a wonderful July 4th and enjoyed your time off (Independence Day has been a Federal holiday since 1870!). I spent the holiday with my family in Lake George having an epic BBQ to celebrate. Let’s just say I won’t be craving hot dogs for a long, long time. 😂

Become a People Person

I’ve been using Excel for almost a decade, but I’m still constantly surprised by all the visualization tricks Excel has up its sleeve. Here’s one I bet you didn’t know: people graphs. 👯‍♀️

People graphs help your data come to life so it’s easier to read. There are a bunch of scenarios in which you might want to use a people graph:

• 🧑‍💻 To show how many people are visiting a client’s website

• 👥 To lay out the hierarchical structure of an organization

• 💼 To break down your company’s workforce by office

Let’s create a people graph for that last example. Before diving in, please note these instructions are for PC users. 😊

The One Thing 76% of People Regret

When you look back on your life to this point, what are your biggest regrets?

That’s the question Thomas Gilovich of Cornell and Shai Davidai of The New School for Social Research asked hundreds of participants in an effort to determine how we can live our lives to the fullest. Surprisingly, the answers weren’t about the things people had done (“I wish I hadn’t married that person” or “I wish I hadn’t studied that field”).

So, what did people regret the most?

A whopping 76% of people mentioned regret about not fulfilling their ideal selves. In other words, you’re more likely to regret the things you haven’t done than the things you have done.

While people still regret their actions in the short term, the team found that in the long term, “the inactions stick around longer.”

I nearly slid off my chair when I first read this study. 🫠 76% is a large chunk of people!

“Okay Kat, what am I supposed to do with this information?!”

Well, your girl did some digging and found an episode of the Higher Self podcast featuring author Ben Nemtin dissecting this research and proposing three tips to help you minimize your regrets. I call it the “Triple A” plan:

1. 🤝 Accountability: Being held accountable for your goals makes you more likely to accomplish them. Create accountability by sharing your goals publicly, betting with a friend, or writing them down.

2. 🏃 Action: If you wait for the “perfect time” to go after your goal, it’s less likely to happen because the perfect time doesn’t exist. So, get started before you’re ready and prioritize messy action.

3. 🦁 Audacity: Trying to accomplish a goal is not easy (posting TikToks of my dance moves required a lot of courage, LOL). Embrace the fear and know it’s part of the process.

Bottom line: Do the things that push you closer to your ideal self. Even if it terrifies you. Even if you’re clueless. Because your 99-year-old self will be so glad you did.

• This is right here is why I’m a XLOOKUP girl for life (sorry, VLOOKUP 🤣).

• A dozen Excel shortcuts to maximize your productivity!

• Useful tips to make meetings shorter.

• The wild story of a couple who built a campground that now nets $1.2 million a year. 🏕

• YouTuber Matt D’Avella quit using his phone for 30 days. The results are pretty interesting. 👀

Here’s some Thursday motivation from creator extraordinaire Rick Rubin:

“When your intuition tells you to do something, even if you don’t understand why, you should listen. There’s a lot more going on than your conscious mind can pick up on.”

Stay Excelent,

Kat