Sweet Spot

I suppose I should start this post by first of all making it known that this idea I'm presenting is not one that is original with me. I heard it in a presentation that someone gave at school a few weeks ago, and he heard it from a guy in his church, and that guy read it from a book, I think. But, if that many people keep passing it on, then it must be a good idea. Maybe you too will share it, and you can say, "I heard this from a blog, but the same guy also wrote that he only wants to date a girl who lives in a barbecue restaurant, and that's just ridiculous. Maybe he's not really worth listening to."

Anyways, the speaker at this presentation was talking about how we can most effectively utilize the time that we have--about what projects, duties, or responsibilities we should give the most attention to. He talked about finding your "sweet spot," which is where your proficiency, passion, and purpose all come together. You can think about it as a venn diagram. The sweet spot is where the three circles come together, and this is where you want to spend most of your time. You want to dedicate yourself to the things that you're good at, you have a passion for, and that help fulfill your purpose.

There might be something that fits your purpose, but that you honestly aren't very good at. It's probably best to delegate that to someone else for whom that task fall into their sweet spot. Or, there could be something that you're good at, but you just couldn't care less about. Again, that's something that someone else might love to do and could do better than you.

This "sweet spot" principle can go a long way in shaping how we spend our time in ministry, in jobs, or just in life in general. It might be helpful to look at all of the different activities you do throughout the day and see where they fall on this chart. Of course, sometimes we all have to do things that don't fall in our sweet spots, but hopefully the bulk of our doings are there. But you may find that most of the things you do are somewhere else on the chart. If that's the case, you might need to do some reevaluation, delegate some responsibilities, and see if there is a way to adjust what is expected of you.

So are you good at baking cookies? Do you enjoy baking cookies? Do you feel like it's your purpose to be a kind and generous person? Then bake some cookies and send them to me! Thanks, you're a peach. I'll be looking in the mail for them.