I believe God created you with a SWEET spot. I believe God created your ministry with an organizational sweet spot. Having a sweet spot doesn't mean we live free of...
- going through tough times
- working hard
- discerning God's daily direction
It does mean that you have a large awareness of a focused way that you and only you make a contribution to the world. It means that you know a "flow" that permeates your life experience. What is flow? Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who wrote a book on the subject defines it:
Flow is the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.
Does working in your sweet spot sound idealistic? It shouldn't. There is nothing more basic, more practical or more profound to your work. You were created for some-thing sweet!
But most people don't know their sweet spot. Benjamin Franklin said, "There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one's self." If you don't know your SWEET spot you are to some degree living in your SWEAT spot. You are working harder than you should for results that are less than they should be.
Working in your SWEAT spot means...
- Your energy and attention doesn't focus naturally
- You get exhausted faster than you should
- Monotony might ambush your day, any day
- You are often tempted by distractions and breaks
- You are more susceptible to jealously at work
- A deep sense that you were created for more haunts you
As I articulate each of these bullets, vivid experiences in my own journey come to mind. I know what it means to be in both spots.
How do you find your sweet spot? The first step is simple: believe that it exists. Believe that God created you for a dramatic sense of daily contribution and real joy through your vocation.