Why you blame yourself 🙇

Hey there! It’s September…which means there is about 30% of 2024 left. 🤯 

If ‘becoming proficient in Excel’ was one of your goals this year, don’t worry. There’s still time to make it a reality by joining my free power-packed Excel class!

In just one hour, you’ll master the ins-and-outs of XLOOKUP and VLOOKUP–a must-have skill for any Excel professional. Sign up today before space runs out!

A Very Sweet Combination Shortcut 🍪

Imagine you’re the owner of Doughtabases, an Excel-themed bakery. From Data de Leche and S’Macros, your employees sell tons of sweets. But how many boxes is each employee selling in total? 

Instead of manually doing the math, you can use a formula that combines XLOOKUP with SUM! In your desired cell, simply type =SUM(XLOOKUP(C13,A2:A11,B2:G11))

Here’s a zoom-in of the anatomy of our formula: 

Once you hit enter, you’re all set! The beauty of this formula is that it does the math for you and lets you toggle between employees without having to rewrite the formula each time.

Want More Excel Shortcuts?

I get questions all the time about how to leverage powerful functions like XLOOKUP, which is why I love to share examples (like the above!) with you every week.

But if you’re looking for a more hands-on approach, I go through a bunch of LOOKUP formulas in my free Excel class! I’ve designed the class so it’s as easy, simple and upbeat as possible to help you nail the Excel fundamentals (and have fun while doing so, as this student will tell you 😉):

Don’t forget to register today!

Why The Blame isn’t Always on You

I have a friend—let’s call her Sophie—who was recently on the job hunt. She had an interview that didn’t go so well. “The interviewer was cold, and the questions were all over the place,” she told me defeatedly over FaceTime. “I’m just awful at this whole process.” 

But a few days later, Sophie had another interview—and she nailed it. The interviewer asked thoughtful questions and actually listened to Sophie, she said. 

What changed? The interviewer. 

Sophie’s experience illustrates how often we blame ourselves when things go wrong and forget it’s a two-way street. Her interviewers had just as much responsibility to be prepared and engaged as she did. 

I see this mindset in so many areas of our lives—careers, relationships, personal growth. But what if we flipped our internal scripts?  

• “I hope I crush my interview.” ➜ “I hope my interviewer is prepared and engaged like I am.” 

• “I hope I can impress my boss.” ➜ “I hope my boss can spot and appreciate hard work.”  

• “I hope this situation goes smoothly.” ➜ “I hope this situation is worthy of my energy.” 

Remember, the responsibility is rarely just yours to make sure things go well—the effort should come from both sides. My advice to Sophie (and to you!) is this: Instead of blaming yourself, set higher standards for the people and situations in your life. They should meet your expectations as much as you strive to meet your own. ✨

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Thanks for being here! Before we part ways, I’d love to know: Have you invested in Copilot for Microsoft 365?

Stay Exceling,

Kat