Sports people talk about the ‘sweet spot’. Sometimes they hit a ball so effortlessly and yet effectively that it sails beautifully towards its target. Getting their timing right, they connect with the ball in exactly the right place on their racquet, bat or club. Such magic arrives after hitting the ‘sweet spot’. Other people experience something similar in parts of their professional lives. Feeling in exactly the right place, they do things effortlessly and yet effectively. Let’s explore where this might happen for you.

1) You can clarify the activities where you hit the sweet spot.

Where does this happen for you? Different people obviously give different descriptions. They may say, for example: “The sweet spot for me is … educating children to read … leading a motivated team … coaching an athlete … fixing a computer problem … getting a sale … cooking a meal … nurturing my garden … painting a picture.” How do you feel when you are in this situation? One person reported: “I feel at home and where I was meant to be. Crises may be happening, but I feel calm and in control. Things seem to go in slow motion and it is easy to get to the heart of the matter. Certainly I don’t always ‘hit a home run’, but I do good work nine times out of ten.” So what is your equivalent of the sweet spot? Try completing the following sentence.

The specific activities where I hit the sweet spot are:

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2) You can focus on the activities where you hit the sweet spot.

Peak performers focus on doing stimulating projects with stimulating people. So how can you keep putting yourself in the right place to do great work? Seth Godin, the legendary blogger, expanded on this approach when writing about Sweet spot marketing. Creative people may find it difficult to get their work accepted, he said, so they may opt to hire a marketing ‘middleman’ who makes their work more mainstream. There is an alternative, says Seth, which is to find or create your own marketing sweet spot. He wrote:

“Golf (or maybe tennis) has the true myth of the sweet spot. That special part of the club (racket) that magically makes the ball go farther and straighter. There’s a sweet spot in promotion and PR as well. Let me give you a few examples from the book world to get us started. Peter Drucker was in the sweet spot for the Harvard Business Review. His background, reputation and style of writing contributed to him writing more pieces for them than anyone else. (My stuff, on the other hand, is blacklisted by the HBR. They won’t even consider my work.) There’s a sweet spot for getting on Oprah and for being on NPR as well.

“My point isn’t that you shouldn’t try to get middlemen to broaden their horizons or to give up on something you’re passionate about. It’s just that it might be easier to build a new sweet spot than it is to persuade an established middleman to change his rules for you. I never had a chance with existing magazines so I invented a writing style for myself that worked well with Fast Company, which until then had never had a columnist. Bloggers around the world are discovering that it’s cheaper and faster and more effective to build their own media channel than it is to waste time arguing with the old ones.”

“So I guess my advice would be to either build your product and network along the way to align with exactly what the middlemen want … or reject them and live/thrive without them. It’s the middle ground that’s really frustrating.”

Seth’s point is crucial when marketing your services. It also applies to finding or creating your perfect niche. Such a role will not be advertised – so you may need to do several things. First, to clarify the specific activities in which you deliver As, rather than Bs or Cs. Second, to create a space where you can practice delivering As. Third, to find people who want to buy what you offer when delivering As. The whole process starts by spending more time doing what you do best. So try completing the following sentence.

The specific things I can do to focus on
the activities where I hit the sweet spot are:

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You can find out more about Seth’s work at:

http://sethgodin.typepad.com

3) You can develop in the activities where you hit the sweet spot.

“There is something mystical about connecting with the sweet spot,” said one sportsman. “So I was afraid of analysing what happened – just in case I lost the magic touch. Like many athletes, however, I became obsessed by exploring my best performances. My coach taught me to get the right balance. I managed to uncover and follow the key principles to put myself in the right place – but then to be ‘fully present’ during matches. Nowadays if I find myself ‘thinking too much’, I simply go back to basics, like a golfer does with their swing. Rebuilding my rhythm helps to connect with the sweet spot more often. Building on this foundation, I am able to make gradual improvements.”

How can you move from 8/10 to 10/10? You may want to continue: a) To work on the right projects with the right people; b) To spend 80%+ of your time using - or preparing to use - your A talent; c) To make clear contracts with the key people about the picture of success; d) To rehearse every scenario and develop a repertoire of tools for delivering the results; e) To be fully present, follow your key principles and perform superb work; f) To find creative solutions to challenges; g) To do everything possible to achieve the picture of success; h) To clarify the specific things you did well and what you can do better next time. And to do it all in a natural way! Try completing the following sentence.

The specific things I can do to keep developing
in the activities where I hit the sweet spot are:

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You can rest and relax – before then rehearsing the next adventure where you hit the sweet spot.

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