Everybody has a personal best.  Usain Bolt is believed to be the fastest man in the world; his personal best in the 100m dash is 9.58.  Michael Phelps is believed to be one of the fastest swimmers in the world; his personal best in the 200m butterfly is 1:54 minutes.  Buzunesh Deba, who just finished 2nd in the NYC marathon female division, earned a new personal best of 2:23:19 hours.

What separates those who are amazing from everyone else is that people who are amazing not only know their personal best but are also always utilizing their score as benchmark to beat & push them to the next level.  Said another way, amazing people track their performance every time they step on the field and every time they step on the field they try to outdo what they did last time they were there.  Deba is recently quoted as saying: “When you run to improve your time, you get the win along the way.”  The idea here is that, if your personal best is amongst the best then, at some point, beating yourself will be the same as beating everyone else.

The problem is that most of us have no clue what our “personal best” is. Without a clear view of our best performance, we lack a tangible carrot to chase.  How do you look to beat your personal best every time you step on the field If you don’t even know your personal best is?  Do you judge by the growth figures of your company?  Do you judge by the number of your people that get promoted in a year?   Do you count it by the week’s you and your wife go without a fight?  Or the number of weeks you go straight without missing a day of prayer/meditation?  What’s your personal best?  If you don’t know, how you don’t know what you are chasing every time you get on the field?