Even on the rare occasion when I am spending the day at the New York Botanical Gardens with only one of my two children, I still chose the Baby Jogger double stroller.

Why?

So glad you asked.

Our Baby Jogger City Select Lux double stroller is so versatile, robust, and high quality, that it’s still the best choice.

I simply detach the 2nd seat & corresponding mounts, and leave them at home. Then I have the extra storage space at the bottom pouch, the smooth ride (for both myself the stroller pusher and Barak the stroller pushee), and the sturdiest, most durable stroller frame ever.

I tip my hat to you Baby Jogger!

Unsurprisingly, I absolutely love this approach as it relates to my Excel work.

In a recent discussion with a prospective client, I agreed that I am probably one of the most expensive Excel consultants they will ever meet. I told them that I believe you get what you pay for, and that investing more upfront will actually save time, headache, and even money in the long run. Plus, as an added bonus, they will get to enjoy a better quality product in the meantime. They ultimately agreed, and signed on the dotted line.

As an Excel instructor, I always encourage my students to build tools that don’t just solve the current problem at hand, but also solve future problems before they ever arise.

As an Excel consultant, I always aim to build Excel tools that are versatile, robust, and stand the test of time. I accomplish this in a number of ways, including but not limited to:

1. Organizing and structuring the data in a clear, accessible, and scalable manner.
2. Writing formulas that are simple, easy to understand, and easy to change if necessary.
3. Ensuring everything in the spreadsheet is as dynamic and interrelated as possible. That way, if a requirement changes, only the minimal number of cells (sometimes only a single cell) needs to be updated in order for everything to recalculate correctly.

If you would like some additional guidance on how to future-proof your current spreadsheet, leave a comment with the words “double stroller” and we’ll take it from there.

#strollerdecisions #qualityproduct #planahead #parentwisdom #excelwell #sharetheexcellove

Oddly enough, the best way for me to enjoy some down time at the Bronx Zoo with my kids is to focus on their experience first. For example:

• I fed them a nutritious lunch, and when they started getting antsy I packed the rest of my lunch away to finish later.
• Barak was about to fall asleep at an earlier than ideal time, so I switched the order of exhibits to keep him engaged and awake just a little longer.
• Finally, when it was the ideal time to sleep, I pushed both kids in the stroller at a quieter part of the zoo even though it involved a lot more hills, until they both fell asleep within 20 min of each other.

As I learned many years ago from marketing mastermind Jay Abraham:

The most selfish thing you can do, is to be selfless.

It is precisely because I put the kids first that I was able to relax and enjoy some down time. If I focused on myself first, the kids would be justifiably cranky, and I wouldn’t enjoy myself anyway.

The same is true with my Excel clients.

When I build a custom Excel tool for a client, I let their requirements, vision, and goals drive the entire engagement. Specifically:

• I am transparent with them about pricing so there are no surprises.
• I communicate proactively with them about the project status.
• I provide a detailed log of all work completed and time spent.

In other words, I create a VIP experience for them.

The result?

Not only are they happy with the final product, they are less cranky throughout. They do not slow me down by constantly asking me for updates, or adding their random suggestions at inopportune times. And best of all, time and again, my clients have sung my praises and referred new business to me.

Does it get any more selfish than that? 🙂

At the end of the day, my role is to support my clients and save them time so they can get back to what they do best.

If you would like support on a current project, hit me up and let’s talk about how we can both be selfish by being selfless.

#selfishlyselfless #winwin #napoptimization #parentwisdom #excelwell #sharetheexcellove

On-site for an Excel session / Q&A with a client today in Brooklyn, and I wanted to share an analogy that seemed to resonate with the team.

BEFORE you automate or improve a complex spreadsheet process, answer this question: Is the juice worth the squeeze?

Shout out to my friend John DeMato for teaching me this phrase.

Said another way, are the upfront costs WORTH the benefits moving forward?

First, answer these 2 sub-questions:

a) What are the COSTS of the current process? (e.g. time, effort, money, credibility, etc.)

b) What are the BENEFITS of automating / improving the process?

To help make this more tangible and relatable, let’s use the lime vs. pomegranate analogy.

If you want a splash of lime on your salad once in a blue moon, then by all means, cut it in half with a knife and squeeze that juice with your hands. No need to improve the process.

In contrast, if you are a family of 6 and everyone drinks pomegranate juice weekly, it’s probably worth investing in some kind of a juicer to help automate at least some of that process.

Taken to the extreme, if you run a juice shop, serving hundreds of customers daily, with every fruit under the sun, there’s no chance of squeezing by hand anymore, am I right?

Back to Excel.

If the benefit is greater than the cost, then go ahead and improve the process. If not, then do NOT improve the process.

Here’s that idea again, written as an Excel formula:

=IF(Benefit > Cost,”Improve”,”Do NOT Improve”)

But wait, there’s more!

Here are 4 levers to consider before you answer:

1. Audience – who is it for?
2. Type – what is it exactly?
3. Quantity – amount needed?
4. Frequency – how often needed?

If the juice is in fact worth the squeeze for YOU on a particular project, send me a message with the word “juice” and we’ll see how I can help you extract all that delicious nectar, without all the heavy lifting.

#foodforthought #automation #analogies #yeahabsolutely #excelcuriosities #excelwell #sharetheexcellove

After a nice filling lunch at the Bronx Zoo, the kids finally went down for their nap! Naturally I took advantage of the “downtime” to explore the lesser walked paths, and create a mental map of one of my favorite places in New York City.

I love exploring like this when I have time, because not only is it a great way to relax and get the creative juices flowing, but it also helps me create a fuller picture in my head of where things are, and how things connect.

That way, next time I visit the zoo with the kids I will be able to efficiently navigate from the brown bears, to the giraffes, to the Jungle World exhibit without getting lost in the African trail. I don’t know about you, but I call that a win.

In Excel, I always recommend that when you receive a new spreadsheet, you take some time to explore the different sheets, formulas, data connections, etc. to familiarize yourself and create a mental map. Doing so will create a fuller picture in your mind, and allow you to easily navigate to the desired area, and even fix issues if they arise because you know where everything is.

Want some help creating a mental map of a spreadsheet? I may know a guy who can help :).

#mentalmap #openexploration #funoptimization #brownbear #parentwisdom #excelwell #sharetheexcellove

At the playground, my son Barak is once again on a loop. He is climbing up and down the steps, over and over again, and could not be more content in the process. It is beautiful to watch, and he is already showing signs of being my favorite kind of student – one who finds joy in practicing the fundamentals.

Once the fundamental skill of climbing up and down steps is mastered, Barak can easily leverage that skill to enjoy more advanced activities such as climbing up to and then going down the big slide. Super excited for him!

While not every student is built this way, I currently have a 1-on-1 Excel training client who is also exhibiting this same trait, and it is already serving him extremely well. For example, by mastering the building blocks of writing formulas he is able to apply those skills to an infinite number of possible calculations to solve his unique business problems. This approach will undoubtedly get him far in business and in life.

My hope for you is to not only practice the fundamentals, but actually find the joy in it. Doing so will help you continue to reap the benefits for the rest of your life of those fundamental skills.

P.S. Not even 10 seconds after filming this video Barak went all the way to the top of the playground structure, and went down the big slide. Thank you for proving my point Barak!

#practicefundamentals #babysteps #patiencepaysoff #parentwisdom #excelformulas #excelwell #sharetheexcellove