Excellence
Being good at anything is an outcome of passion, discipline, and perseverance; achieving excellence includes pursuing these values times 2. Pick a line of work and look at the best of the best, they will have an equal distribution in all of the above-mentioned values.
A person is known by the company they keep - Aesop
Extend this idiom to include to values and it still works. To be well read, you need to surround yourself with books, authors, and people who have good taste in reading.
Similarly, to pursue excellence you need to be surrounded by it.
Excellence isn't selective
You need to be obsessed. It can't be applied to just one aspect of life, it needs to be more deeply embedded. Jiro didn't become a great chef by focusing on making sushis alone. He's punctual, goes to the market to select his meat and is very particular about it, and he focuses on his craft.
Excellence isn't subjective
When you hear an amazing singer, experience well-crafted products, or eat amazing food; there's nothing subjective about this feeling. The understanding of excellence is well-established, how you define excellence can vary though. And it really depends on ones personal goals and ambition.
Practice
Kaushiki started learning classical music at a really young age and has been practicing every day for hours(!) for the last three and a half decades. Practice, practice, and practice some more; there's no other way.
Skill
Apart from the 'naturally gifted' artists, skill is an outcome of pursuing excellence. This might seem obvious but the work and achievements of leaders in their field might seem daunting because of the enormity of what they've achieved but they started out like any one of us. They simply imbibed the values.
Does this mean anyone can be great?
Yes and no. Yes if you have the time, discipline, perseverance, and passion but no if you don't have the same level of ambition, as the modern greats. And that's totally alright, which is also why there are so few greats.
How
There's a fantastic quote from a movie called 'The Disciple'
There's a reason why Indian classical music is called the Eternal Quest. Through this music, we are shown the path to the Divine. And to embark on that quest, you will have to surrender to sacrifice. If you want to talk this path learn to be lonely and hungry.
The only way to excel is to fully embrace it, without really worrying about reward or recognition. It doesn't need to be ardous, you **have** to enjoy what you're doing.
There's an interesting anecdote/argument about enjoying what you're doing, Ustad Rashid Khad started his training when he was eight years old, his teacher was a strict taskmaster who made him practice one note for hours each day, starting at 4 in the morning. He hated this training and only really started enjoying his music age eighteen onward.
Train enough that you enjoy what you're doing?
Conclusion
Follow people who have pursued/achieved excellence, because they will be the first ones to admit that they haven't achieved it. And that's the essence of excellence, in its pursuit you develop a core value system that helps you succeed and do really solid work, work that will outlast you — the creator.
Do good, be good, peace out 🖖🏼
