Some people go to therapy. We… open Power BI.
Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration. But if you’ve ever spent hours fixing a broken measure, only to realize it was a missing relationship (and maybe a missing will to debug), then you know what I mean.
Stage 1: Denial
You open the dataset. Everything looks clean… until it doesn’t. “Why is this blank?” “Why are the totals wrong?” “Did I accidentally summon a parallel data universe?”
Cue the spiral.
Stage 2: Anger
You try a new DAX formula. It breaks. You try another one. It breaks differently.
“Why can’t this just work like Excel?”
“What do you mean, circular dependency?!”
You take a break, but the slicer behavior keeps living rent-free in your head.
Stage 3: Bargaining
“If this measure works on the first try, I swear I’ll clean my Downloads folder.” (You won’t.)
“If this refresh runs successfully, I’ll stop creating 12 versions of the same file named ‘Final_v3_RealFinal_ThisOne.pbx.'” (You definitely won’t.)
Stage 4: Depression
You’ve been staring at the screen for so long, the KPIs start to look like modern art. You begin to question life choices. You Google things like:
“Can DAX sense fear?” “Why does Power BI hate me?” “Is there life outside of matrix visuals?”
Stage 5: Acceptance
And then… suddenly, it clicks. A relationship is fixed. The filter context behaves. The visuals light up like a Broadway stage. You sit back, exhale, and say: “That’s the one.”
You feel seen. You feel powerful. You send it to the client and they reply with: “Looks good.”
…Just “looks good”? But it’s okay. You know the masterpiece it is.
Final Thoughts:
Behind every clean, polished dashboard is a chaotic story of trial, error, caffeine, Google searches, and persistence.
We don’t just write formulas — we debug emotions. We don’t just move visuals — we move business understanding forward.
So if you’ve ever spent more time on a tooltip than a vacation… If you’ve ever felt immense joy from a perfectly-aligned grid… If you’ve ever whispered “yes!” when a slicer finally behaved…
You’re not alone. You’re just deep in Dashboard Therapy — and we’re all in it together.🧠💻📊
