I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to beat your best a lot lately both personally and business.

Personally, this was supposed to be my comeback year for cycling after my accident in 2017. I quickly discovered that getting back to pre-accident condition wasn’t going to be fast or easy.

• On almost every ride, I have to push through recurring fears of getting hit again. The fears pass once I’m out on the road, but sure did deflate the motivation and excitement to get out and ride.


• For the first time in 10 years, I wasn’t able to finish the entire 150-mile MS Cape Cod Getaway Ride with Team Strategies. It was brutally hot, and I overheated. Better safe than sorry. Even though I raised over $10,000, my best effort ever, not finishing still frustrates me.


• I came back a few months later at the 150-mile MS City to Shore Ride. I not only finished, I beat my best average speed for 150 miles.


• In 2016, I rode 3,820 miles — my best ever. I only did 1,525 in 2017, the year I got hit. I’m at 2,250 for 2018. At 68 years old, many people are impressed over my miles. In 2019, at age 69, I am determined to beat my best year and top 4,000.

• Believe in yourself first: If you continually doubt yourself or what your salon/spa is capable of achieving, forget about beating your best. A little self-doubt keeps you real because it reminds you of the work that produces wins and successes. When self-doubt becomes your mental precursor to moving forward, it can be worse than stepping into quick sand. FACT: Beating your best never happens by accident. You must believe in your own abilities to not only achieve your goals, but to beat your best when those goals are achieved.


• Your best is yet to come: I don’t know about you, but I still believe the best is yet to come. I believe I will ride over 4,000 miles in a year — and what it will take to do so. I believe my company will respond positively to change and continue to grow. We may not beat our best every year, but we’re sure going to give it our best. FACT: If you don’t believe the best is yet to come, there is little chance that you can maintain what you have today.

• Perceived limitations are mental crap: There are countless examples of individuals that have overcome extreme physical handicaps to achieve the unthinkable. Cyclists with one leg. Runners with prosthetic legs. Individuals that came from poverty to become wildly successful. Companies that were on the brink of collapse that became market leaders. FACT: Buying into perceived limitations is the mental crap that prevents otherwise achievable success.


• Never allow others to limit what you can achieve: As an individual, or company, there is enough to deal with without others telling you what is, or isn’t, possible. If you’re surrounded by others that say you can’t, or you don’t have what it takes, it’s time to surround yourself with people that encourage and inspire you to succeed. FACT: No individual or company can beat its best when surrounded by people who beat them down. There’s nothing sweeter then achieving a level of success that others told you was impossible.


• Beating your best is harder and takes longer than you think: Over time, beating your best requires extreme discipline and tenacity. It means overcoming adversity. It means learning new skills and finding ways to challenge yourself to get better. For companies, it means learning how to be the leader your company needs. FACT: Beating your best is an outcome of continuous improvement. Simply put, if you’re not trying to get better, you are becoming irrelevant.


• There’s always a lesson when you come up short: The game of beating your best includes plenty of setbacks. Too often, individuals and business owners allow the frustration and disappointment of setbacks to sap their energy and determination. Allowing yourself to get too far down the rabbit hole is dangerous. Rather than beating your best, you end up beating yourself up. FACT: Every defeat, setback or crisis is filled with lessons. So, after some fine and well-earned self-flogging, begin the lesson. What went wrong? Where did you need to train, plan or work harder? As leader, what do you own in this setback? FACT: The best lesson is self-improvement and correcting what didn’t work as planned. Blaming others never changes the outcome.