How to Really Know if Music is in Your Sweet Spot

Clunk! Do you know what that sound is? It’s the sound of an inexperienced person trying to hit a baseball with a bat. That’s what it sounded like when I was first learning—that is until my coach showed me the sweet spot on the bat.

He explained to me that hitting the ball in this spot would allow me to hit it harder and farther while exerting the same amount of force! And so, I discovered the sweet spot.

Instead of going to the plate and thinking about how hard I was going to hit the ball, I thought more about how I was going to connect with it. I’ve always preferred brains over brawn!

Your Sweet Spot

Did you know that everyone has a sweet spot? It’s true. Some of you are great with numbers. You love math equations and formulas. You get excited when you see a spreadsheet filled with income and expense numbers.

For others, you love to be around people. You could never sit in a cubicle all day. You love traveling to different cities and countries and holding meetings with people you’ve never met before.

And then there are the musical types. You listen to a piece of music and you immediately become captivated by the melodies and harmonies. You find intense joy in sitting with your instrument and learning the biggest and the smallest details about the music you are playing.

Your sweet spot is the place where your talents, passions, and purpose intersect.

Your Talent

This is the skill that comes easily to you. For me, it’s music. For as long as I remember, I’ve been able to play something on the piano or the trumpet in less than 1/2 the amount of time it took most of the people around me.

Your Passion

In simple terms, this is what you love to do. It’s what you would do whether you were paid to do it or not. If you aren’t already doing this, it’s what you dream about. You almost automatically find others who have the same love and you can’t wait to meet them so you can talk about it.

What’s interesting about our passion is that sometimes we make the mistake of calling this our talent. When it comes to music, this sometimes frustrates the people around us. The person who mixes up their talent and passion wants to play in the band because they love music. They mistakenly assume that because they love music that they can play lead guitar!

Your Purpose

Finding your purpose can sometimes be the most difficult of the three. Your purpose is what God put you on this earth to do. It’s the thing you do that adds value to the lives of the people around you. It’s what your gift and your passion can be used for when they come together.

It’s also important to know that these 3 elements work best when they are in balance with each other. The chart shows what happens when things get out of balance. When you have aligned your talent and your passion but haven’t found your purpose, you wind up to be self-serving.

If you align your talent and your purpose but lack passion, you can easily become apathetic. If your passion and your purpose are aligned but you lack a talent for something, you will become quickly frustrated and you risk burning out.

What does all of this have to do with music? I’m glad you asked!

The Balance of Your Sweet Spot

It’s important that we have all 3 of these working in a balanced way in our lives.

For the first 20 years of my adult life, my sweet spot was working as a full-time worship leader. It never felt like work…well most of the time! I’m now in a new season in my life and I’ve thrown all my eggs into the basket of teaching piano online and passing on the talent I have. Same talent and passion, but a different purpose.

If you have a calling that is music related, I want to encourage you to chase after it and embrace it. There will always be people around you who will tell you that you need to get a “real job” when you grow up and that music doesn’t pay well.

You Know You

Remember, you know better than anyone else what your talents, passions, and purpose come together to be. I’m not saying you shouldn’t ever ask anyone else. I think it’s important to have people around you that are wiser than you are.

But when it’s all said and done and you come to the end of your life, don’t you want to be able to look back and say that you did what you were made to do here on this earth? I sure do!

Take some time to think about your talent, passion, and purpose. Are they in balance? If not, make the necessary changes so that you can operate in your sweet spot. You’ll never regret it!

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