When I was in high school, I played a lot of tennis. In fact, I was so obsessed that my parents used to bring my dinner to the tennis court. My tennis coach told me that the secret to hitting a winning shot every time was hitting the ball when it was in the center of the racket where the "sweet spot" is. When a tennis ball hits the sweet spot, it makes a specific noise -- a kind of solid "pop," and you know even without looking that you have made a good shot.

In business, everything you do must be designed to hit your sweet spot, the place where your passion, your knowledge and your action intersect to create a solid "pop," letting you know that you have hit a homerun. You can't have a sweet spot without passion, knowledge and action. Lack of any of the three will create a chasm in your business that will be difficult to overcome. You can have endless passion and unquestionable knowledge, but if you don't take action, you won't be successful. You can have knowledge and take action, but if you don't have a passion for what you are doing, you will become bored and burned out. If you have passion and action, but are without knowledge of your capabilities, your market or your product, you will be shooting in the dark.

Passion. Knowledge. Action. Combine the three and you'll hit your sweet spot every time.