Benchmarking

Benchmarking. 

A benchmark is a standard which can be used to track progress, and as a way to compare one thing against another.  In my latter years of teaching we began to use benchmark testing as part of our instruction. The benefit was it helped to determine which students were really understanding the instruction and which 
were not. The draw back, though, was that you were pretty much lock-stepped into the curriculum, and didn't have much available freedom to embrace the teachable moment. 

Author Seth Godin expands this idea of benchmarking to include our personal development. Because benchmarking includes standardization and comparison, sometimes it can get in the way of our uniqueness. Godin states, "In addition to the stress it creates, benchmarking against the universe actually encourages us to be mediocre, to be average, to just do what everyone else is doing."

When we look around us to determine what we "should" be doing our creativity may suffer. It may be okay to check in every now and then, but aspiring to be just like everyone else, in the long run may end up being disappointing. When we are doing just what everyone else is doing we begin to blend in rather than to stand out. 

Although, this may feel more comfortable, standing out may be the better route. Not so much as a way to be noticed just for the sake of being noticed, rather as a way to make a true difference in the lives of the people around us. 

Don't get caught in the cycle of benchmarking as a way of determining your value. Choose your own way, and allow yourself to soar.