By Lois Melbourne, CEO of Aquire.

I love benchmarks. I’m a competitive person, and I like to measure and keep score for a lot of things (especially when it comes to my business!). Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to have learned some valuable lessons that have helped me choose when to use which competitive instinct and how to measure the progress of goals I’ve set.

I recently attended a wonderful training course from the Strategic Coach organization. While there, I learned about a mental process of “going into the gap.” This happens when you look back over your year (or other time frame) and measure your progress against an ideal or target. If you haven’t reached the specific target, you feel like a failure and disregard the amount of progress you’ve made. This can put you in a funk or “in the gap.” However, if you allow yourself to instead look at the progress you’ve made from where you started, you can have a much better feeling about yourself and set the next goal.

Here’s a good example of an “in the gap” mindset: Let’s say you were trying to put US$1,000 into your savings account in 2009 after saving zero in 2008. At the end of the year, you look back and you see that you’ve only put US$800 into the account. If you want to be depressed, you can beat yourself up for not getting to the US$1,000 benchmark. On the other hand, if you want to reward yourself emotionally, you can think about how you saved $800 more than you did the year before! Which perspective is going to be healthier for your next goal-setting session?

Benchmarking can send you into a bigger gap, however, if you make assumptions and don’t have all the facts. For example, what if you find out the neighborhood average for savings was US$1,100? That could make you feel lousy about your US$800. Of course, you don’t have all the data about those other households, so it’s hard to measure the results. Maybe they didn’t enjoy a fabulous summer vacation. Maybe they put money into savings but now have huge credit card debt. The truth is: You’ll never know what other people are doing in terms of their measurable goals. As an entrepreneur, the only thing I can control is how I set, and respond to, my own benchmarks.

Here’s another lesson I learned when it comes to building your benchmarks: From a business standpoint, it’s always best to have someone serve as a perspective builder when you’re setting your goals. This person can help you stick to your plans, meet your benchmarks and ensure that you’re doing everything you can to realize your goals. Furthermore, he or she will make sure you’re not comparing your own business numbers to the competition (a trait that will deter you from making progress on a personal or professional front).

As I look back over my achievements in business this year, I’ve learned to measure the trends to see how far I’ve come. Most important, I’ve learned to celebrate the progress and move on to the next challenge!