Your Exceptional Sweet Spot
People don’t hire you, buy from you or recommend you because you’re indifferently average and well rounded.
They do it because you’re exceptional at something.
What if you invested the energy to be even more exceptional at it?
Seth Godin, Amplify Your Strengths
Where are you exceptional?
What are the projects and tasks that are right in your sweet spot? The ones that you're great at doing, you enjoy, your clients love you for, and only you can do?
Even if you don't have these mapped out, you've probably got a good idea about what these are. Equally, you're just as clear about what isn't in that category.
It's worth getting crystal clear about the work that you should be doing and what you shouldn't touch with a ten-foot barge pole. A lot of people don't have this mapped out and find themselves doing things "because there's no-one else to do it" or because "they've always done it".
Two simple lists will do it. Then go through what you've got on your plate at the moment and see what fits where. There should be far fewer things on your "Sweet Spot" list than on your "Don't Do These" list. (Yes, this is another 80/20.)
This list is going to be different for everyone so it's worth doing with everyone on your team.
This can change over time; projects and tasks that wouldn't make it on to your "Sweet Spot" list sneak into your workload without you noticing. Some tasks that you do "just this once" seem to end up being permanent additions to your day-to-day.
It's good to review these lists every few months or if you hire someone new.
There's one item that needs to be on everyone's "Sweet Spot" list: find ways to stop doing everything that isn't on this list. To minimise the impact of all the stuff that gets in the way.
It's unlikely that you’re going to be able to stop doing everything on your "Don't Do These" list straight away so you need to actively and consistently work on making that happen.
Then you'll have much more time to work on the projects that you're exceptional at doing, and on making it even better.
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