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#73: What do you want?
Shem Opolot
May 24, 2024
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.
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I have over ten years of work experience in healthcare, program management, and data analytics on two continents. So, I know a little about helping you work smarter
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I’ll occasionally make you laugh
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Hi! I'm Shem Opolot, and this is The Friday Fix, my weekly newsletter. If you've received it, you’re either subscribed or someone forwarded it to you. If you fit into the latter (yes, I’m the kind of person who uses words like “latter”) camp and want to subscribe, then click on the shiny button below:
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Otherwise, grab a seat 🪑.
Happy Friday 🎉 President Ruto is in D.C. this week, so there are Kenyan flags dancing on poles everywhere, and the white lady who served me a drink this evening said, “Herbaree.” Suddenly, everyone has a Kenyan friend and would really love to connect with the motherland. These people are lucky I’m not a scammer because I’d be selling land in Kenya this week.
LIFE.
What do you want?
I woke up in a cold sweat last night. Anxious, restless, and disturbed. And since misery loves company, here we are.
Okay, I’m lying. I sprung up in a cold sweat because it was hot, but let’s pretend I was burdened with glorious purpose.
***
We work to make money, right?
Blue-collar workers have typically been weary of technological advancements. And rightly so: the printing press, the sewing machine, the mobile phone, the computer, etc. All these innovations wiped out millions of blue-collar jobs overnight.
Remember Kodak? Yeah…
But today, white-collar workers—you and I—are more concerned about the AI revolution.
As technology advances, more jobs and industries will be wiped out.
But…these advancements will also create new jobs, the same way a social media manager didn’t exist 20 years ago.
I just want technology to make work optional.
But unfortunately, innovation is driven more by money than by necessity. Therefore, not enough money is invested in developing AI that does everything for us so we can focus on our hobbies.
This means you’re going to have to work longer. You’re going to have to change. You’re going to have to constantly gain new skills.
And…as science advances, we’ll live longer.
Apparently, the first generation to live until 150 has already been born. If people are retiring at 60 now, does this mean my kids will work until they are 100? (God forbid! May Jesus be generational wealth.) Worse still, [trigger warning] will there be 100-year-old presidents? 😭.
But I don’t mean to scare you. Instead, I want you to think about what you really want.
Figure out what you want out of life, figure out what you need to get that, and work towards it.
Because otherwise…
In the absence of strong convictions about what you want from life, you will always default to wanting more money. It's the lowest common denominator of desire in a society with any semblance of upward mobility. The key to escaping this cycle is first establishing your priorities (family dynamics, geography, lifestyle, whatever), and then figuring out how to get there financially.
Your priorities should determine your income. Not the other way around.
THINGS.
A quote.
You never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from.
A tweet.
Having chemistry with someone doesn't mean you have to date them (or sleep with them).
Maybe you're supposed to open a taco truck together.
Chemistry is good for all relationships, not just romantic ones.
— Shaun Galanos | Love Coach (@thelovedrive)
4:16 PM • Sep 7, 2021
WORK.
Identify duplicates
Here’s your data:
There are several ways to identify duplicate values. I showed you how to extract duplicates using the UNIQUE function, but what if you want to highlight duplicates without deleting them?
We use conditional formatting.
1. Select the data you want to inspect for duplicates.
2. In the “Home” tab which is open by default, navigate to Conditional formatting > Highlight Cells Rules > Duplicate Values. Leave everything as is and click OK.
This might look different from your Excel version, but the words should be the same.
Done.
This document will help you polish your Excel skills.
FUN.
The Friday Fix Playlist
Shem’s picks
✅ This interactive experience will help you relax with the rhythm of nature.
✅ The best hotel breakfast in every capital city.
✅ 101 things we take for granted.
Have a great weekend,
— Shem
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