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- #51: Build big things
#51: Build big things
Shem Opolot
December 22, 2023
Hi! Welcome to The Friday Fix! You’re reading this because you probably stumbled upon this post somewhere on the internet instead of where it should be—in your inbox. But no worries; we can fix that.
Who am I? I’m Shem Opolot, a health professional turned content creator, passionate about helping people be their best selves in life and work.
Why should you subscribe?
I have over 10 years of work experience in healthcare, program management, and data analytics on two continents. So, I know a little about helping you work smarter
I comb through tonnes of self-improvement content so you don’t have to, and I distill the content into bite-sized wisdom for you
I’ll occasionally make you laugh
If this sounds good to you, click the subscribe button below, add your email, read the welcome email from me in your inbox (check your spam folder or Promotion tabs), and follow ALL the instructions. This is important so you don’t miss future posts.
Happy Friday 🎉 This newsletter goes out to everyone who licks the inside of the lid of a yogurt container after opening it for the first time. Wait,… I’ve got one more: This newsletter also goes out to you if you’re not sure today is Friday because you’re already lost in the lull of the season.
This is the last typical newsletter of the year and I expect it to be under-read. Next week’s will be SPECIAL! You won’t want to miss it but you’ll probably pick a food coma over it, and that’s okay.
Estimated read time: 5 minutes
ONE THING I’VE LEARNED
Build big things.
Do you ever travel and marvel at some of the world’s architectural wonders and ask yourself, “God, when?”
Why don’t we build big things? Why don’t we have nice things?
***
Remember when you wrote a personal statement and meant every word? Remember when you thought you would change the world?
What happened to that person?
When did you develop tunnel vision for yourself and your loved ones? When did you start avoiding eye contact with the beggar on the street corner?
When did you decide your efforts didn’t matter?
In Kisoro, I encountered dizzying winding roads, vast verdant hills terraced so neatly they could’ve been traced from a primary school textbook, women and children toiling in gardens in the valleys while the men teetered at taverns, ubiquitous Ugandan mediocrity, jaded potential, and lengthy arguments, cycling from hope to solutions to defeat to resignation, and back to hope, and back to resignation.
You see, Uganda is broken.
And the problem with our version of “broken” is it begets apathy.
Those with options—like myself, who can flee to America in a crisis—leave and tweet about change, maybe start a trending hashtag or two. And those who stay, mostly for lack of alternatives, focus on enriching themselves and their loved ones, often at the expense of others.
So what can you do? How do you revive your dormant ideal self and change the world?
You take responsibility, say no mediocrity, and do your best.
As you prep for a new year, think about your career, your vocation, your job, your gifts, your talents, your relationships, etc. Are you doing your best?
Build big things. Build nice things. Do excellent work and watch the world around you change.
SHAMELESS PLUG
Now is the perfect time to subscribe to TLDR Weekly. The next [more] perfect time was yesterday.
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MY FAVOURITE THINGS
A quote
When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. When the student is truly ready, the teacher will disappear.
Now Playing
Apple TV doesn't miss. If you’re a fan of Sci-Fi and thought experiments about a dystopian future…
The Good Library
Read a book this weekend.
A picture
Zion made some new friends this week.
PRO TIP
Highlight like a pro
I did this in Google Sheets, but it’s practically the same in Excel.
Here’s your data:
What if you want to highlight an entire row for employees in a specific department? Something like this:
The details of every employee in the Marketing department are highlighted.
1. Select the entire data range (C4:E14 in this case) by clicking anywhere in the data range and pressing Ctrl + A on a PC or ⌘ + A on a Mac.
2. While the entire data range (C4:E14) is selected, go to Formatting on the toolbar and click Conditional Formatting. A side panel called Conditional Format rules opens on the right.
Under Conditional Format rules, “Apply to range” should be set to your selected range. If it isn’t, change it to your selected range.
3. Under the Format rules dropdown, scroll all the way to the bottom and select Custom Formula is
4. This is the tricky part. In the Value or Formula box, type this
=$E4 = “Marketing”
WTF?! I gotchu:
a. ‘E’ is the column that contains the Departments. By typing ‘$E4’ you’re telling Google Sheets that even though the conditional formatting will apply to the entire data range (C4:E14 in this case), it should look only in the Department column (E), starting from the first row in the Department column (row 4).
b. We start with an equal sign (=) because we must type the formula exactly as we would if we were tying it in a cell in the sheet.
Make sure the spelling is correct!
❓ Homework: See if you can create a more dynamic solution by using a dropdown to determine which Department you want to highlight. Like this:
If you want to learn how to use Excel, this is a good place to start.
WHERE FUN GOES TO FLOURISH
The Friday Fix playlist A Christmas playlist
Brain teaser
From Braingle.
A 3-letter word has been taken out of each of the following words. Can you figure it out?
_ _ _K
_ _ _NEL
RE_ _ _D
DE_ _ _CT
Answer below
Shem’s picks
✔️ Play your favorite song forever
✔️ Play this Google Search game
✔️ Why do people have wisdom teeth?
Brain teaser answer
Answer: FUN.
FUNK
FUNNEL
REFUND
DEFUNCT
Have a great weekend,
— Shem
Et cetera
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