Forget World Records. Personal Records Are the Real Story.
New podcast clip
I recently attended Max Martin & Christian Angermayer’s Enhanced Games event in Vegas. One of the most common media criticisms of the event was that it failed to deliver enough world records.
In this new clip from my one-hour podcast with Max, we explored why that framing misses the deeper point. World records are thrilling, of course. They are part of what makes sports dramatic and emotionally powerful. But if the broader question is human performance, health, and self-improvement, then personal records may matter even more.
This is where I invoked one of Jordan Peterson’s most useful rules: “Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today.” Not everyone can become Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, Erling Haaland, or a seven-foot NBA player. But everyone has a body. Everyone has a baseline. And everyone can ask whether they are becoming stronger, healthier, more resilient, and more capable than they were before.
That, to me, is the more interesting promise of Enhanced Games. It is not merely about producing superhuman spectacle or smashing world records. It is about expanding the conversation around what is possible for the individual: the athlete chasing a personal best, the aging person trying to preserve vitality, and anyone interested in becoming the best version of themselves.
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