“We are what we repeatedly do. Therefore excellence is a habit.”—Aristotle
We are not born excellent. We develop excellence. We grow excellence. But how? How do we grow and develop excellence?
Aristotle says excellence its a habit, which implies that it requires practice.
Practice, such as putting in repetition after repetition after tedious repetition of our target behavior. I talk about this in “7 Pillars of High Performance” (grab it from the sidebar if you don't have it). There is absolutely no substitute for putting in the reps. None. Excellence is won only as a result of much striving and effort.
So to me, the key word in this quote of Aristotle is “repeatedly”.
We don’t like this concept in our era of immediate access to everything. Microwave ovens used to be pretty amazing to me. “You mean I can actually heat this corn dog up in 15 seconds?? Amazing!”
That’s nothing. Now we have instant access to whatever we want, whenever we want, on demand, with the click of a button.
Funny thing is, our level of “normal” has completely shifted. Now we freak out when our internet isn’t lightning-fast. Hey, your computer has to communicate with a SATELLITE, remember?! Sometimes you may actually have to wait 15 SECONDS for things to be made right with the world again.
No, when it comes to things like personal development, skill-building, mastering a craft, competently handling a body of knowledge, or developing a strong relationship, to the point of excellence, we MUST put in the hours of practice. Hours. Probably years.
Shortcuts--posers try to take them, and shady salesmen try to sell them. But there are no shortcuts! And you can’t fake excellence, either. Not for very long.
So, excellence develops as a process over a period of time. Just as there are no shortcuts, there is no substitute for time!
For how long must we put in these repetitions? Aristotle says until it becomes a habit. The word I use with clients is internalize. We “take it in” to the point that it (the behavior, character quality, attitude, mindset, skill, or whatever we are trying to grow) becomes a part of us. We’ve taken it in, digested it, metabolized it, and now it’s a part of who we are.
How do we know when we’ve internalized something to the point that it’s truly a part of who we are, and we have reached that state of “excellence” in a given area? There’s one indicator:
When it’s more or less automatic. Muscle memory kicks in. The jazz guitarist isn’t thinking about what he’s going to play, it just flows out of him. How? Only after hours, days, weeks and years of playing scales, practicing techniques, and going up and down the fretboard again and again and again. And again.
So bottom line is this: if there’s an area where you truly want to be excellent, you MUST be willing to pay the price. What’s the price? Hard work! Hard, hard work! That’s the “secret”.
Not a very “sexy” secret, is it? Where’s the hidden, esoteric knowledge? There isn’t any! Stop trying to complicate a simple idea. Listen to Michelangelo:
“If people knew how hard I had to work to gain my mastery, it wouldn’t seem wonderful at all.”
Wow. That’s his secret? Look at any Michelangelo sculpture. They exude amazing excellence. And how did he become able to produce such excellence? Byyyy . . . what’s the answer? Yes, hard work. Hour upon hour of handling chisel and hammer, chipping and banging against stone.
We can’t all be Michelangelo. But we can all grow in excellence. And maybe you can’t be Michelangelo, but you can pursue your own passions and become incandescent in your own way.
Don’t be average and settle for mediocre, “the best of the worst and the worst of the best”. Strive hard after being excellent.
That’s your gift to the world. We need you. Keep striving.