Is excellence not in vogue anymore?

Who doesn't love a listicle, especially those that purport quick life hacks: "10 secrets to public speaking" "10-minutes to whip up elaborate dinner" and "5 minutes daily to learn to play the piano"? There is one for every life skill you can imagine. I love these lists myself— whatever helps me be efficient, I am all for it.?

The silent victim of this rampant popularity of hacks, though, is the appreciation for fundamental traits that lead to excellence: commitment to building foundational skills and discipline that leads to mastery.?

When it comes to achieving excellence, there is no magical shortcut. The actual key to mastery lies in the diligent cultivation of foundational skills, and there's simply no way around that.

Knowledge doesn't become a skill, practice becomes a skill

Knowledge is easily attainable. Perhaps too easy. And it gives false sense of attainability and discounts the dedication of the masters. Look at the Masterclass courses taught by world-class experts like Gordon Ramsay, Chris Voss, and Kris Jenner— they share their best tips to make that beautiful dish, negotiate as your life depends on it, or build a priceless personal brand! But is watching their class enough??

Without action, all these tips are just that: information. The ultimate "hack" is not found in collecting tips and tricks; it's in taking what you've learned and putting it into practice. Becoming great at something requires lots of repetitive practice—some say 10,000 hours, but maybe with the best tips and tricks from the masters, you can reduce that to 9000!?

No matter the number of hours, the path to mastery or excellence is not glamorous. Take an athlete like Steph Curry, known for his incredible long-range shots. He didn't achieve this by scouring for "top tips to best shots" but by mastering the fundamentals. Hours and hours of repetitive practice, strength training, circuit training, and drills enable him to perform at games as if his motions are second nature.?

Other masters achieve excellence in the same way. Yuja Wang doesn't only play complex concertos; she spends countless hours practicing scales, rehearsing one hand at a time, repeating the same passage over and over, almost robotically, until she gets it right.?You can sweat just listening to her rendition of the Flight of the Bumble-Bee.

The same logic applies to any other skills you want to attain, even if not to the level of mastery. I recently shared a few tips on practicing articulating your thoughts better. Some quipped that "it sounds like ChatGPT." They meant it as a criticism, but ironically, in that criticism, they pointed out the inevitable truth: to be a great speaker, you need to practice the fundamentals. Over and over again. It may sound robotic initially, but eventually, it will become your second nature.?

Do you always need to pursue excellence??

Next time you see tips to help you become great at something, you have a decision to make. Do you want to pursue excellence? Then, you must put in the effort to build your foundational skills. If not, it's okay to pick up some tips and hack your way into efficiency. This is what I do when it comes to cooking—anything I can do to machinate chopping, dicing, and baking, I am a fan. But that also means I don't assume I can improve my cooking skills by implementing shortcuts. One day, when I decide to learn to cook, I will have to go through a period of foundational skill-building, but the path to excellence, while it may not be in vogue, is timeless and consistent.??

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