I NEED YOUR ADVICE (please!)

Last updated on February 2, 2017 By

[Note: In case you’re wondering, this post is a follow-up to this (which has been getting a lot of comments). I will try my best to respond to each and every comment you post, BTW]

OK… in my last email and blog post I left you with a cliff hanger and I’m sorry if you have been feeling upset with me for not revealing that “really big request”.


Anyway, I’ve been feeling reluctant to talk about something. But it’s long overdue so here goes…

When I first started sharing my Excel knowledge online in 2011 with Launch Excel, there was no way I could have guessed how many times my videos would be watched.

And as you may or may not know, the last time I posted a new video to the Launch Excel YouTube channel was 4 years ago on January 16, 2013. I stopped posting new videos because my life situation had changed and I no longer had enough time to share more Excel knowledge by carefully crafting video tutorials and blog posts.


So when I last checked my YouTube channel in January 2017, it was showing that my 31 videos had been watched a total of 2,038,283 times. That’s about 2 million views more than I expected to see!

Then I started catching up with the 600+ comments that have been posted on my channel (as well the comments on my blog) and I started to realize that my videos have really helped a lot of Excel users worldwide.

So here is what I have been holding out on for years…

I’ve been:

  • Nicely asked
  • Strongly encouraged
  • Pleaded with…

To share the accumulation of what I have learned over the last 14 years mastering Microsoft Excel in the workplace, so that newcomers to Excel, as well as those with some existing knowledge, can be much more productive and feel less frustrated with Excel.


And I’ve been asked to do this by posting more Excel tutorial videos and articles online, as well as by creating full Excel courses to take you from beginner to advanced level.

For YEARS I’ve resisted doing this

I found myself not having enough time to commit to this. After moving half way around the world from England to Singapore in 2013 with my family (wife and two young kids) there were many things we decided had to get done first, like find a suitable place to live and settle our kids into school.


And for many years I found myself too busy with work commitments such as when I did a brief secondment to a buyout firm, and when I worked with technology startups helping them with operations and finance. While the work I did was very interesting and varied (I covered companies in cosmetics, food ingredients, medical instruments, fish farming and education), there was a little voice in my head that said “you should be working on Launch Excel now”. Yet for years I resisted because there were always other things to take care of.


Oh, and one other reason I didn’t take any action? I am a bit of a perfectionist.


OK what I mean when I say “I’m a bit of a perfectionist” is that I don’t want to go half-way or half-hearted with anything. When I commit to something I want to give it my all, and make sure it’s the best I can do.


And another part of my perfectionist identity was very worried about negative comments from critics and skeptics.

How I’m Trying to Learn From the Past

Before I set up Launch Excel in 2011, I often had worries such as the following:

  • Would anyone like my videos and articles?
  • Would people dislike my voice or presentation style?
  • Would viewers be confused by what I explained?
  • Would the material I posted be forgotten in the ocean of how-to stuff out there on the web?

But I still went ahead and set up Launch Excel. And it ended up having an impact that I’m just now coming to terms with.

Over the past 6 years I got a ton of comments like these from people who found Launch Excel videos useful:

“Many thanks please make more excel videos!” – ndelpurg


“Your voice is really soothing and clear. Thank you for your tutorial.” – S. M. Ho


“Wow, you are a type of excel Jesus, thank you” – Armoricalex


“Excellent demonstration thank you very much” – Tolan


“Dude that was AWESOME! You gave me the ultimate weapon!” – Milan


“I wish I knew about this earlier. I spent literally days cutting and pasting, so I could use data in a pivot table. Bravo!” – Bjmsj


“Wow I’m really impressed of the power of macro’s. When my teacher tried to explain this to me, it was all Chinese for me. Your explanation is super!! Thanks a lot!!” – Yannick


“Thank you for your awesome video, your instructions were very clear.” – Liztra


“You ROCK!! Thanks for the tips, and your time, I appreciate it.” – Tom

There were a few critics too, and what my inner perfectionist realized after reading their comments is that I don’t need to worry about whether everyone likes what I have to offer as long as enough people benefit from my teaching that I can help to improve their lives in some meaningful way.

In fact I now value negative feedback because this is often the best place to work on improvements. So my inner perfectionist takes comfort by saying to me that negative feedback shows me how I get better as I go along, rather than being a reason for me not to start at all.

So I’m Seriously Considering Doing This

Despite my worries, existing commitments and perfectionism, I am seriously considering sharing more about how to use Microsoft Excel. And I want to do this by creating full-blown online Excel courses that you can take in the comfort of your own home or office.


I know that when I started using Excel over 14 years ago, there were so many things I didn’t know that I didn’t know. I would have LOVED to have someone experienced take me step-by-step through what’s possible in Excel.


And because Excel is so widely used around the world (Microsoft estimates 1.1 billion people use Excel in some way) I think I could make a useful contribution to many people’s lives – especially to YOUR life, if I started creating online Excel courses for you.

If I Do This, It Will Be A LOT of Work

I’m really excited to share my knowledge in Excel with you, but I’ve been around long enough to know that my small projects quickly get out of hand and turn into big ones!


So I only want to create online Excel courses if there’s enough interest.


Here’s what I want you to do. If you support the spirit of Launch Excel and have gained anything from my articles and videos, I’d really appreciate you giving me an opinion.


What I want to know from you (please reply in the comments section below):

  • What do you think?
  • Should I do this?
  • Would you be interested?

Your feedback and thoughts are absolutely the fuel that keeps me going.


And I don’t want to even think about doing this unless there’s enough potential interest.


Anyway, if you have a minute, please leave a comment below and let me know what you think.


It would mean a lot to me, and I’ll do my best to respond to each and every comment.


Talk soon,

Victor Chan

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Hey, I'm Victor Chan

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