What Is Your “Sweet Spot?”
Have you ever wrestled with the question of: “What is my passion and what is my ideal income producing job, career or venture?” You know… the place where everything just seems right and you’re in the zone. I call that the “Sweet Spot”.
Let me define this a bit further. If you play golf or tennis you know when you hit the sweet spot, it’s when you hit the ball and all you hear is a “ping”; the ball flies forever and goes in the exact direction and place you wanted it to go – everything is in balance.
It’s basically the same in life; things just seem to fall into place, you’re making good progress, all seems to be pretty well in balance and things are moving along smoothly. You’re in the zone, operating in your “Sweet Spot.” This is when you’re at your best.
“OK, so how do I identify my “Sweet Spot?” The Sweet Spot is where the following four components intersect: 1) Your Strengths, 2) Your Passion, 3) Your Resources and 4) The Opportunity you’re engaged.
To illustrate, in your mind’s eye or on paper, draw four intersecting circles with the top one being your Strengths, opposite of and intersecting it, is your Passion, to the left and intersecting both previous circles are your Resources and opposite it and intersecting the other three is the Opportunity. The “Sweet Spot” is where the 4 circles intersect.
Now let’s look at these individually:
1. Your Strengths: Dig deep on this one and don’t stop with the first things that come to mind. Look back in your life for a period and time when you did something effortlessly, excelled at it and had fun in the process. This can be a job, a specific task, a hobby, building a relationship, bringing something very important to a conclusion, making a major sale, organizing an event or a group, etc. Strengths are really a combination of: a) Your inherent talents + b) Your experience + c) Your education + d) the skills, you’ve developed over time. Let’s dig a bit deeper. Be sure to write these out, as you think back in your life and career:
a) What are your inherent talents? These are the natural aptitudes you were born with and perhaps developed early on. You may have an ear for music, a liking for numbers, a love of colors or drawing, a love for the social, the ability to think deeply, etc. Although one can argue that some of these “talents” can be acquired, each of us seems to naturally lean towards one thing or another. If you observe children within the same family, you’ll know what I’m talking about.
List your inherent “talents:”
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
b) What have been some of your best working and life experiences? Have you owned and operated a business, have you managed people, have you led a major project to a successful completion, have you had fiscal responsibility, is there a particular industry you like and know very well. Which experiences gave you real satisfaction and you would not mind having again?
List your “best” working and life “experiences:”
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
c) What has been your education? This does not need to include an academic degree such as a BA/BS, Masters or a Phd. Education may be as simple as being a self-taught expert in a particular area of interest or a trade. The latter frequently seems to be the case with many very successful Entrepreneurs.
List your “education” self-thought and academic:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
d) Take an inventory of the special skills you’ve developed in your lifetime? Are you good at managing people or situations, are you comfortable in front of people, are you good with numbers, are you a creative thinker, are you a master at a particular trade, etc. This point alone will tell a lot about where your talents and strengths lie.
List your “special skills,” you’ve developed over a life time:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
2. Your Passion: What brings out your passion? This one frequently escapes people and may be hard to pin down. Your answer may be: “But, I like a lot of things”! Following are a couple definitions that define the “Passion” we’re talking about for this exercise. Per Wikipedia: “Passion is a term applied to a very strong feeling about a person or thing. Passion is an intense emotion, compelling feeling, enthusiasm, or desire for something”.
The term is also frequently applied to a lively or eager interest in or admiration for a proposal, cause, or activity or love. This frequently ties in to one’s deeply felt purpose or mission in life, such as fighting hunger, poverty or injustice.
The feelings normally associated with passion include unusual excitement, enthusiasm or compelling emotion, a positive affinity or love, towards a subject, idea, person, or object.
George Bernard Shaw insists that there are passions far more exciting than the physical ones…”intellectual passion, mathematical passion, passion for discovery and exploration: the mightiest of all passions”.
For the purpose of this exercise, the latter serves as a good guide. Ask yourself: “What have I done or have been involved in, past or present that has engaged my emotions and created excitement when I’m engaged in that task or thought”? Is it a particular hobby, an activity you head up or participate in, perhaps it’s situational or, is it when you render a specific service? And we could go on.
List what brings out your “passion:”
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
3. Your Resources: Now take an inventory of the resources you have available to you. Do you have a large circle of friends or business associates, perhaps you have access to financing or certain leading thinkers, is there an educational level you can draw on, perhaps you have a very logical or creative mind, or perhaps something very special you experienced or accomplished in the past can be brought to bear today, e.g.? In other words ask yourself: What am I able to readily bring to the table?
List the “resources: you have access to:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
4. The Opportunity: This is a big one because frequently “entrepreneurs” pursue an opportunity on a whim and fully believe that what they are pursuing will somehow work out. This belief is frequently based on one’s stubborn determination and “I can do this” attitude.
Although that’s a great attitude to have, we “entrepreneurs” frequently run into an emotional “stop, what am I doing here” barrier down the road, as we discover that we’re way out of our “Sweet Spot.” At that point, the tendency is to jump on to another opportunity that, at least on the surface, appears to hold more promise. And as is often the case, the process repeats itself, as we continue chasing after the “right” opportunity. I like to refer to this as “chasing SHINY objects.”
When presented with an opportunity, ask yourself: “Does this hit my Sweet Spot?” If undecided and sitting on the fence over making a decision, following are two questions that will help you make that decision.
- Am I most likely to say: “I wish I hadn’t or,”
- Am I most likely to say: “I’m glad I did”
When asking those questions look at the longer term impact of your decision. Look out 6 months from now, a year from now, 3 years from now and further if you wish.
List the “opportunities” you have available to you right now:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Statistics show that most successful entrepreneurs operate in or very near their Sweet-Spot. Let me clarify “Successful”, because some through brute will and force will achieve a goal but, at the cost of perhaps their health, family, friends, freedom, etc. Their lives are out of balance and some have tragic endings. Success within the context of this post, means having a healthy balance in your life.
Now it’s your turn: Now, I encourage you to go through each point, on a clean sheet of paper, fill out the information but, don’t ponder on each point, just let it flow. After one pass you may want to let it sit overnight and go through the points again, just in case you remembered a new “aha” or two. Once done with the survey questions, do the following:
When An Opportunity Comes Knocking
Take each of these opportunities through the three other points and ask yourself:
- Does it fit my talents?
- How does it match up with my best work and life experiences?
- How about within the framework of my education and interests?
- Do I have the skills to do this or, does this come naturally to me?
- Is this something I could get passionate about?
- Do I have or could have access to the necessary resources?
In closing, realize that we’re all individuals, endowed with our own unique strengths and talents honed over our life time and as such we all have our own individual “Sweet Spot.”
Don’t look at icons such as Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Richard Branson or Mark Zuckerberg as your role models. These are very special individuals with special gifts and resources that most of us don’t have at our disposal. Be special in your own way.
———————-//———————-
About the author: Andre Kasberger is an entrepreneur, on-line marketing strategist and dot connector, who enjoys helping individuals and business owners achieve their goals.
This article is the culmination of my personal experiences working through many bumps on my journey, intense study of the subject and input from various experts. Look up or e-mail Andre at: www.AndreKasberger.com, andre@bestyouyet.com
