5 Simple Questions To Help You Discover Your Sweet Spot

Last month, I was honored to speak to a group of ladies who are mostly expatriate spouses who left their careers to follow their husbands. The objective of my talk was to show the ladies how to discover their sweet spot. My presentation was titled Self Discovery Your Key To A Fulfilled Life. 

As I sat there listening to each of the ladies introduce themselves, I was astonished at the qualifications represented there. We had economists, lawyers, psychologists, social workers, pharmacists, environmentalists, accountants, consultants you name it. One thing that united us all was each of us had sacrificed their career to do what we believe to be the best choice. We want to raise our children together with our spouses. In my view, nothing can beat this sacrifice and because God always honors sacrifices, I have seen these ladies reap the benefits of their sacrifice.

According to Ken Coleman, your sweet spot is the intersection between your talents and your passions. In order to discover your sweet spot, you need to do work that merges your talents or strengths (things you do best) with your passion (things you do most).

Below I share some excerpts of my presentation with the hope that it will help you to discover your sweet spot and live a fulfilled life.

What Is Self Discovery?

To begin our discussion, we looked at some of my favorite definitions of self-discovery.

\”The greatest discovery in life is self discovery. Until you find yourself, you will always be someone else\” Myles Munroe

\”knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom\” Aristotle

\”To find yourself, think for yourself\” Socrates

\”For we are God\’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do\” Ephesians 2:10

Going by these definitions, it appears safe to conclude that Self-discovery is being aware of who you are as a person so you can fulfill the purpose for which you were created. Self-discovery is also a journey that you have to take for yourself. No one can do this work for you. Granted you can receive guidance along the way but please be prepared to dig deep. The reason for this is simple and that is, the answers that come after your self-discovery journey will always come to YOU.

Finally, it is imperative to remember that self-discovery Involves a lot of questioning and reflecting. Therefore, you need to do a lot of LISTENING so you are able to hear the answers as they are revealed to you.

The Questions To Discover Your Sweet Spot

As stated above, there cannot be a journey of self-discovery without questions. Remember what we are looking for is for you to discover your sweet spot.  Several years ago when I embarked on this journey, I discovered, when you ask the right questions the answers come easily and naturally. Below I share some of these questions.

#1. Who Are You?

This is a very deep question and requires you to be open and sometimes vulnerable in order to arrive at the correct answer. You can make use of the various personality tests out there to get the answer to this question. I like this Myers Briggs personality test and this Personality Temperament Test.

You can also enlist the help of those people who know you very well and will be able to give you the honest answers you are looking for.

One thing though is you need to be open to what you will hear or find out from the tests. Keep in mind your goal which is to discover your sweet spot. Write down the answers as they come. Be willing to go into your past to confirm what you have discovered. Like we see in the scripture in Ephesians 2:10. God already predetermined what he wants each of us to do here on earth. As you dig deep, you will discover that your whole life you were being drawn to your sweet spot.

#2. What Are Your Strengths and Talents

I believe we are each gifted with the right strengths and talents to undertake the role we were created to perform. Although sometimes the words strengths and talents are used interchangeably, they are different. Usually, Talents are inborn all you have to do is discover them. I think of my friend Grace who is an excellent baker now. I asked her how much training she took to arrive at her craft. She responded that she took a one week course. In her own words, \”I never knew that I could do this until I started doing it\”. 

Strengths, on the other hand, are things that come effortlessly to us. Sometimes they are skills or a particular character we exhibit. However, strengths can also come in the form of experiences we have had. They can also be stories that come to us because of what we went through. I think of my friend Betty who has a speech impediment because of an accident she suffered. Betty has written about this and what she had to endure to get an education in her book Against All Odds. Her message of inspiring the girl child to defy all odds and get an education has come from her story.

As you answer this question, do not limit yourself to the skills you have. Instead, also look at what may have happened in your life. You may be able to use this as a springboard to share your message and help others along the way.

Keep in mind that when you discover your sweet spot and engage in work that plays to your strengths, you will be winning all the time. You may have come across people who testify to being paid for doing what they love. These people have fun all the time and although they may be working it never seems like it is work. They have discovered their sweet spot.

#3. What Are You Passionate About?

Another question to ponder in order to discover your sweet spot is what are your passions? What do you love to do or put another way what makes your heart beat?.

Passion has been described as a positive intense feeling you experience for something that is profoundly meaningful to you. A passion is often core to your identity as a person. It is what you are known for.  It is not just a passing interest or hobby. Larry Smith beautifully puts it this way \”passion is the thing that will help you create the highest expression of your talent\”. 

In the famous book Talk Like TED, Carmine Gallo states that \”identifying your passion is one step, but you must share it, express it, and talk about what motivates you with colleagues, clients and other people in your life. In addition, you need to link yourself with others who share your passion\”

Once you discover your sweet spot and do work you are passionate about, you will find that you are winning in your career or business.

I love this quote by Oprah Winfrey

\”You have got to follow your passion. You have got to figure out what it is you love, who you really are. And have the courage to do that. I believe that the only courage anybody ever needs is the courage to follow your own dreams\”

#4. What Is Your Definition Of Success?

As you journey through life, it is imperative you come up with your own definition of what success means.  This is because, as you go through life without a clear target you tend to feel like you are not making progress at all. In addition, when other people share about what they have achieved you will always feel like you are behind. A clear definition of success, however, will always act as your true north. Pointing you towards the direction you want to go.

In order to come up with a clear definition of success, you need to establish what your core values are. Values help you to determine what is most important to you. They can be character values like compassion, confidence, eloquence etc. They can also be life category values like family, home or career. Values can also embody the roles you are currently playing in your life. Are you are a parent, spouse, child, citizen or devout follower. Keep in mind as you work on discovering your sweet spot that in order to be fulfilled, the work you do needs to align with your core values.

#5. What Legacy Do You Want To Leave Behind?

Finally, as you begin your self-discovery journey to discover your sweet spot, begin with and keep your end in mind. What do you want to be remembered for when you die. Each of us is called for a specific purpose and will have to give an account to God for how we lived our life here on earth. Your legacy should always be at the forefront. Please do not go through life only to discover that what you went after contributed very little to your legacy.

Finally, 

As you work on discovering your sweet spot, keep in mind that what matters is the impact you will leave on those you encounter along your life\’s journey. You need to live a life of significance and your life needs to count for something. At times, when you tell people what you want to do with your life it will not make sense to them. However, because the answers to the questions above come to you what matters is how you feel. Remember the words of Steve Jobs, \”as you go on the journey of self-discovery, do not let the noise of others opinions drown out your own inner voice. Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become\”.

If you are ready to do the work and discover your sweet spot, I invite you to schedule a FREE 30-minute consultation where we can discuss this topic further. Please book an appointment HERE.