People sometimes ask why anyone would take a targeted Excel class when subscriptions offer seemingly endless courses and learning paths for less money. By “targeted Excel class,” I mean a focused, often live or cohort-based session designed for a specific role, problem, or outcome, not a broad content library.
It is a fair question. Content libraries are genuinely valuable. I teach in them and recommend some excellent ones. They are an incredible resource once you know what you are trying to do.
The challenge is that access alone does not create skill. Having a world class kitchen does not help much if you do not yet know how to cook. At some point, you need a real class, clear guidance from an expert, and a structured path forward, not just more tools on the counter.
Subscriptions are effectively saying, “Here is everything. You decide what matters.” A focused class is saying something very different: “This matters. Commit to it.”
That difference turns out to explain far more about Excel skill development than most people expect.
The quiet failure mode of unlimited learning
We are living in a golden age of Excel content. Tutorials are clear, examples are plentiful, and almost any feature you want to understand is a quick search away. On top of that, AI tools can now help explain formulas, debug workbooks, and generate starting points on demand.
And yet, many people still feel oddly tentative when they sit down in front of a real spreadsheet. You see it in small moments:
- hesitation before changing a formula
- uncertainty about whether a structure is sound
- anxiety about breaking something they don’t fully understand
This gap between knowing things and trusting yourself is where Excel learning quietly breaks down.
Unlimited content unintentionally widens that gap. When learning is free, abundant, and endlessly deferrable, it trains a posture of optional engagement. You can watch something without acting on it. You can agree with an idea without committing to it. You can always tell yourself you’ll come back later.
Excel rewards judgment more than exposure
Real Excel skill shows up in how people make decisions when the path is not fully clear. Most meaningful spreadsheets force you to weigh tradeoffs rather than follow a checklist.
Questions like these come up all the time:
- How much structure is enough here?
- Where does flexibility turn into risk?
- Which assumptions should be made explicit?
- What will someone else need to understand later?
There are rarely perfect answers. These decisions live in the gray, and practicing them requires some amount of constraint and consequence. Bingeable content often smooths over that tension. A good class creates space to work through it.
What focused, guided training actually changes
A focused Excel class works because it reshapes how learners make decisions. Three elements matter most:
- Expert curation: An experienced instructor narrows the field. The material is intentionally scoped, and learners are given a clear direction. Being told, sometimes explicitly, “This is the path we are taking. Set the rest aside for now,” removes a significant cognitive burden.
- Commitment with skin in the game: Time is reserved on the calendar. Money has been spent. Participation is visible. Disengaging becomes an active choice rather than the default. People show up differently when stepping away requires a decision.
- Consequence: Learners are building something, not just consuming ideas. Choices are visible. Confusion is addressed instead of postponed. Progress depends on resolving uncertainty rather than skipping ahead.
Why guided commitment works
This is the mental model I keep coming back to when explaining why constrained, guided learning tends to outperform unlimited content.
Think of it as a simple flywheel:
- Expert curation reduces the option set and takes responsibility for the learning path.
- That curation enables commitment… time, money, and visibility create just enough pressure to stay engaged.
- Commitment forces exposure to real tradeoffs, not just observed techniques.
- Making and owning those tradeoffs builds confidence through ownership, not memorization.
- Once that confidence exists, future learning becomes easier. New tools no longer feel overwhelming because they have somewhere to attach.
Why I keep coming back to this
Excel is a strange tool. Most people use only a small fraction of what it can do, often without realizing how much depth is there. Once that depth becomes visible, many people feel a sudden pressure to catch up and start consuming everything they can find.
That is where binge learning creeps in. Playlists, courses, bookmarks, tabs. The assumption is that more exposure will eventually produce confidence. In reality, confidence comes from grounding. You need a point of view, a way of working, and a sense of what matters before additional material is actually useful.
Content libraries are genuinely excellent at supplementing that foundation. I teach in them and rely on them myself. But they do not provide the grounding. They do not tell you which paths are worth taking, which tradeoffs are acceptable, or where restraint matters more than capability.
If this way of thinking resonates
I’ve laid out how I apply these ideas in my Excel courses and client work on my How I Work page. It explains what I focus on, what I deliberately avoid, and why I design learning around curation and commitment rather than volume.
That page should help you decide whether this is the kind of engagement you’re looking for.