Find your middle

Do you spend time wondering if you're making the right decision, or if you're in the right place, or if it's the right time?  I do.

Or, at least I did.

You see, I've become convinced that there is no right decision, right place or right time.  Instead, there's a 'sweet spot' - your 'middle'.

Your 'middle' is not about the decision you make, the location or the timing.  It's all about alignment - aligning your activity with your strengths, skills and passions.

The significance of this hit me when I was chatting with my buddy, Steve.

Steve makes a ruckus wherever he goes.  He's pioneered a ton of stuff.   He's inspired others to make a ruckus and to pioneer new things.  And he's enjoyed some real success.  But now he's starting a new venture.  And, as he was sharing his ideas and how they lined up with his vision, I realised how Steve's new venture aligned with his passions, his strengths and his skills in a way the other stuff he had been doing hadn't.

He was moving into his sweet spot - he was finding his 'middle'.

I got very excited.

Steve asked me why I was excited, so I explained.  You see, as I saw it, everything up to that point had been like a pebble thrown towards the edge of a pond, rather than out into the middle.  There was a splash and there were ripples, but those ripples hit the shoreline pretty quickly and then ran out of steam.

But Steve's new venture was like a pebble thrown into the middle of the pond.  That pebble makes the same kind of splash as the one thrown towards the side, but the ripples go much further.  In fact, they just keep on going until they reach every part of the shore.

Maximum reach.  Maximum impact.

Now, you are a Change Architect, so it's inevitable that whatever you do will make a splash and send out ripples.  You can't help it.  It's what you do.  But, if you are going to have maximum impact, you need to give those ripples a chance to reach as far as possible.

And that's why you need to find your middle -  the place of maximum impact.

But how do you do that?

First, remind yourself of your vision

Go back up to the mountain top and take in the view.  Renew your focus on what's broken, why it needs fixing and what the world looks like when your dream is a reality.

You see, your vision is key.  So, while I get that it's burned into your retinas, do it anyway.

Sketch out how you are going to get this thing done

You've had ideas for how to get this thing done.  Probably more ideas than you can poke a stick at.  So, what are they?  What is it that you are itching to put your hand to?  What things need to start happening for your dream to begin to become a reality?

Sketch them out and ask yourself what skills they need?  What type of people do you need on board?

Now, find your top threes

You've heard of SWOT analysis?   Well, this is SWSP analysis.  List out your top three for each of these:

- Strengths

- Weaknesses

- Skills

- Passions

Finally, map it all out

You need to create the same kind of alignment Steve had found.

Of the ideas you sketched out, which ones map onto your top three strengths, skills and passions?  Of those, which have fewest of your top three weaknesses?

What are you left with?  These are the ones where your energy needs to go, because that is where you will start to find your middle.

Take a few moments this week and go through those few simple steps.  And then make a plan to direct all of your energies into the ideas that align with your strengths, skills and passions, because that is the sweet spot.  That is your middle.

It truly matters to me that you find your middle, so if you want to work through any of this with me, just drop me a line and let's talk.