Stay in Your Sweet Spot

Do you want to maximize your R.O.I.? Concentrate on what you’re good at and stop focusing on your weaknesses.

Dmytro Aksonov | iStock

What I’m about to share with you is counter-intuitive to what you have been taught.

Unfortunately, many people (and many organizations) still buy into this principle, and it’s detrimental to the long-term success of their business and/or the likelihood of whether or not they will reach their full potential in life. Here it is: Stop focusing on your weaknesses! The more time you spend trying to improve upon things you are not good at, the less you stay within your unique talents and skill sets, which are ultimately the things that will give you the greatest return on your investment of time, money, energy and resources.

Have you heard of the Pareto Principle? If not, it’s pretty simple to explain. It basically states that the top 20 percent of your priorities are responsible for 80 percent of your results. And it’s no different when it comes to staying in your strength zone — also known as your “sweet spot.”

I’ve been grateful to have some oustanding mentors that have come into my life at the right time who assisted me with this endeavor greatly. For example, I was able to discover my strengths (primary drivers) as an individual, and I also found my unique purpose in life, which is to empower others to grow their businesses and lead to their full potential faster.

With that being said, I choose to focus on only three things. The interesting thing is this: the three things I’ve chosen to focus on are not only what I’m good at — in other words, things within my strength zone — but they are things that I enjoy doing immensely.

They are:

  • Create (books, curriculum, articles, podcasts, etc.)
  • Facilitate (teach, host mastermind groups, lunch- n-learns, etc.)
  • Coach (executive coaching, group coaching, career coaching, life coaching)
WHAT A CHANGE. I cannot begin to tell you how focusing on these three things has made an impact on my life. As a result of staying within my sweet spot, I’m more fulfilled, I live with more purpose each and every day, I’m able to impact more people, and I’m able to thoroughly enjoy my vocation as a leading authority on business development and leadership.

My challenge to you is simply this: Find the two, three or four things that you do extraordinarily well and focus on them exclusively. This may not be easy. It wasn’t necessarily easy for me.

For example, you may have a strength with a lot of potential; however, for one reason or another you haven’t been able to tap into it and develop it to the level it needs to be in order to impact your long-term success. Be patient, find a good mentor and commit to a process or processes that will help you find the answers you are looking for.

Reprinted from the Purpose Unlimited E-Letter: For a free subscription, go to www.purposeunlimited.com. Copyright © 2018 Jim Whitt Purpose Unlimited.

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