Own your benchmarks, get set, go !

Benchmarking, a practice typically associated with businesses and organizations, has made its way into our lives as a powerful tool for personal growth and success. In a personal context, benchmarking involves evaluating your own performance, skills, or goals by comparing them to those of others, role models, or industry leaders. This practice allows you to gain insights, set realistic targets, and continuously improve yourself.

Benchmarks, given the clarity and motivation they provide ought to propel us to unbridled action through flawless execution but that rarely happens.

I examine, in this piece, he word of Personal Benchmarking from various dimensions.

What is Personal Benchmarking?

Personal benchmarking is a deliberate and systematic process for personal growth and self-improvement. It involves evaluating your own skills, abilities, achievements, and goals by comparing them with those of others who have excelled in similar areas.

Significance of Personal Benchmarking

Benchmarking in a personal context holds several advantages:

-It enhances self-awareness by highlighting your strengths and weaknesses, helping you understand your areas for improvement.

-It assists in setting realistic and aspirational goals by showing what others have achieved.

-It can serve as motivation to strive for excellence and maintain a growth mindset.

-It fosters a culture of continuous improvement, encouraging you to learn and adapt to changing circumstances.

Given that Personal Benchmarking is setting oneself to a certain standard, the choice of the standard ought to be relevant. In the absence of the same, the process of self-improvement barely takes wings.

Wrong Benchmarking

Some of the ways in which I have seen people commit hara-kiri with regard to their benchmarking are :

Unrealistic Role Models

Setting role models or benchmarks that are too far removed from your current situation can be demotivating. For example, aspiring musicians who benchmark themselves against world-famous artists may find their goals unattainable in the short term, leading to frustration and disillusionment.

Misaligned Values

Choosing benchmarks whose values and priorities do not align with your own can lead to a sense of emptiness and misdirection. If you are someone who values work-life balance and personal time but benchmarks yourself against a workaholic executive, you may find yourself sacrificing your values for unfulfilling success.

Ignoring Unique Circumstances

Each person's journey is unique, influenced by individual circumstances, opportunities, and challenges. Benchmarking without considering these unique factors can result in unfair comparisons. For instance, comparing your progress in a startup to someone in a well-established corporation ignores the vastly different contexts and resources.

Short-Term Thinking

Focusing solely on short-term achievements can hinder long-term personal growth. Setting benchmarks that prioritize immediate gains over sustained development may lead to missed opportunities for more substantial, lasting improvements.

Unhealthy Competition

Personal benchmarking should be about self-improvement, not competing with others at any cost. Unhealthy competition can lead to burnout, stress, and strained relationships. For instance, a student who sets their benchmark as the top scorer in their class may neglect their well-being and personal interests in the pursuit of academic success.

Ignoring Well-Being

Ruthlessly pursuing benchmarks can neglect physical and mental well-being. Neglecting self-care while striving for perfection can lead to burnout and physical or mental health issues.

Fall out of wrong Benchmarking

Wrong benchmarking is like starting a long journey seated in the finest automobile on the planet with an empty fuel tank for company.

You ain't going anywhere, for sure !

Apart from not going anywhere, the other fall outs are

-Unrealistic Expectations leading to disappointment and self-doubt.

-Diminished self-worth even if we are making progress in our own right.

-Loss of Authenticity as we jettison our unique values, goals, and interests in pursuit of someone else's definition of success.

-Increased stress and anxiety owing to fear of failure or judgment.

How can we benchmark right (and maybe better) ?

A few pointers in this direction are :

-Practicing Self-Awareness

-Set intrinsic goals that are personally meaningful.

-Acknowledge and celebrate your own progress and achievements, no matter how small they may seem.

-Limit Social Media and external influence by limiting your exposure to curated and filtered content that can distort reality.

-Use the success of others as a source of inspiration rather than direct comparison. Learn, desist from replication.

-Understand that setbacks and failures are a natural part of any journey.

-Practice gratitude to shift your focus from what you lack to what you possess.

Tools for better personal Benchmarking

There are several tools and techniques can aid in effective personal benchmarking. Some of them that have worked for me are :

-Various self-assessment surveys and tools are available to help you identify your strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. (I have a personal SWOT analysis framework that you could use. Message me directly or drop a note in the comments section of this post and I will share it with you. It does not matter if we are first level connections or not.)

-Frameworks like SMART goals and OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) provide structured approaches to goal setting and measurement.

-Maintain a journal or engage in regular reflection to track your progress, setbacks, and insights gained from personal benchmarking.

-Seek guidance from mentors or coaches who can provide valuable feedback and support your personal growth journey.

-Connect and engage with peers who share similar goals or interests to exchange experiences, insights, and best practices

Parting Thoughts

Personal benchmarking is a dynamic and empowering practice that can guide us toward personal growth and success, Whether in career development, financial management, health and well-being, personal relationships, or personal development, personal benchmarking offers a structured approach to continuous improvement and fulfillment.

As much as success is a journey, personal benchmarking too is a journey and it is important to embrace it as part of our lifelong journey of growth.

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I am Sri Ram.

I Coach, Mentor and Facilitate Workshops to help Organizations, Leaders and Teams become clear and confident communicators.

I read, I write, I watch movies.

I do all of this happily.

But I am happiest when I walk my dog and so is she. Win-win games do exist.

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