Narrator: What if the relentless chase for success—the promotions, the accolades, the wins—is actually holding you back from achieving something far more meaningful? Imagine a high school basketball coach, watching his son, a top-ranked player, navigate the pressures of national attention. This coach, Brook Cupps, saw a critical distinction that most people miss. He told his son, and later the author Ryan Hawk, that success is based on a comparison with others, but excellence is measured against your own potential. It’s not about being better than someone else; it’s about being better than you were yesterday. This profound shift in perspective lies at the heart of Hawk’s book, The Pursuit of Excellence. Drawing on hundreds of interviews with the world's most accomplished leaders, athletes, and artists, Hawk deconstructs the uncommon behaviors that separate true achievers from those who merely succeed, offering a roadmap for anyone committed to a life of continuous growth and fulfillment.

Narrator: The book’s foundational argument is that society has conflated success with excellence, to its detriment. Success is often a zero-sum game, defined by external validation and comparison. Did you get the promotion? Did you win the game? Are you ranked higher than your competitor? Hawk, through the wisdom of his interviewees, posits that this is a fragile and often unfulfilling way to live.

He illustrates this with the story of high school basketball coach Brook Cupps. His son, Gabe, was a highly-recruited player, constantly being compared to others. Coach Cupps knew this external pressure could be destructive. He sat Gabe down and explained the difference: success is about beating others, but excellence is about beating your former self. It’s an internal benchmark. This reframing is liberating because it puts the locus of control entirely within the individual. You are no longer a victim of circumstance or competition; you are the master of your own growth. This idea is echoed by the legendary runner Steve Prefontaine, who famously said, "To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." For Prefontaine, a race wasn't just about winning; it was a work of art, a test of his own limits. By focusing on this internal standard of excellence, the pursuit becomes sustainable, deeply personal, and ultimately, more rewarding than any external trophy.

Narrator: A common piece of career advice is to "follow your passion." Hawk argues that this is not only bad advice but often the reverse of how excellence is actually achieved. Passion isn't typically a lightning-bolt discovery; it's the outcome of dedication, mastery, and grit.

Hawk shares his own personal story to drive this point home. His lifelong dream was to be an NFL quarterback. He poured everything into it, but ultimately, he wasn't good enough. His dream shattered, he took a job in telephonic sales—a field he had zero passion for. Instead of despairing, he applied the same competitive work ethic he learned in football. He competed against his own previous performance and that of his peers. He focused on mastering the craft, finding fulfillment in helping customers and teammates. Over time, as his skills grew, so did his passion. He explains, "The passion came after the performance. I became passionate about the work because I developed a high level of skill to do it well." This experience is reinforced by the blunt advice of Professor Scott Galloway, who states that your job is to find something you can be good at, apply thousands of hours to become great at it, and the prestige, camaraderie, and self-worth that come from that greatness will make you passionate about it.

Narrator: The path to excellence is paved with resistance, discomfort, and the temptation to quit. Hawk asserts that the most successful individuals overcome this not through sheer willpower, but through a disciplined focus on their daily process.

He highlights the mindset of Eliud Kipchoge, the greatest marathon runner of all time. Kipchoge famously said, "Only the disciplined ones in life are free. If you are undisciplined, you are a slave to your moods and your passions." For Kipchoge, freedom comes from the structure of his training. He doesn't fixate on winning; he focuses on the process. He believes that if you plan and prepare exceptionally well, success and winning will naturally follow. This is a crucial mental shift. Instead of being overwhelmed by a monumental goal, like breaking a world record, the focus narrows to the manageable tasks of today: the run, the recovery, the mental preparation. This process-oriented mindset is also seen in top comedians like Jerry Seinfeld and Dave Chappelle, who spend years honing their material in small clubs, analyzing every laugh. They fall in love with the process of refinement, knowing that the final, polished product is simply the result of countless hours of disciplined work.

Narrator: Excellence is not a solo endeavor. Hawk emphasizes that the people you surround yourself with—your "band"—are critical to your growth. Building this network, however, requires a specific and courageous mindset, one that begins with trust.

This principle is powerfully illustrated through a story from leadership author Jim Collins about his mentor, the late Stanford professor Bill Lazier. Collins, having been burned in the past, asked Lazier if he was naive to trust people. Lazier’s response was transformative. He explained that he always starts with an "opening bid of trust." He argued that the upside of trusting people—attracting other trustworthy, high-caliber individuals—far outweighs the downside of occasionally being wrong. A culture of distrust repels A-players, while a culture of trust encourages people to live up to your high expectations. This idea of proactive trust is what allows for the creation of a "Junto," a concept borrowed from Benjamin Franklin, who formed a small group for mutual improvement. By leading with trust, vulnerability, and generosity, you create a supportive environment where everyone is committed to lifting each other up.

Narrator: The book's culminating message is that the pursuit of excellence never truly ends. It is a continuous, lifelong journey of learning and refinement. The moment you believe you have "arrived" is the moment you begin to decline.

Hawk uses the story of Jiro Ono, the world-renowned sushi chef, to embody this philosophy. Well into his 90s and widely considered the greatest sushi master alive, Jiro still went to work every day, relentlessly striving to improve his craft. He would say, "All I want to do is make better sushi." He hadn't perfected his craft; he was in a constant state of perfecting it. This is the essence of what Zen Buddhists call shoshin, or "beginner's mind"—an attitude of openness, eagerness, and a lack of preconceptions, even when one is an expert. This same spirit was seen in Theodore Roosevelt, who, on the day he died, was found with a book under his pillow. He was always learning. The pursuit of excellence is not about reaching a summit, but about the climb itself—the endless process of becoming.

Narrator: Ultimately, The Pursuit of Excellence is a call to action to redefine our relationship with achievement. The book’s single most important takeaway is that excellence is an internal choice, a commitment to a process of continuous improvement rather than a destination to be reached. It is about measuring yourself against your own potential and finding deep satisfaction in the daily work of becoming better.

General Stanley McChrystal, in the book's foreword, offers the perfect closing thought. He writes that leaders are not navigators following a pre-drawn map; they are cartographers, carving their own path into an unknowable future. The challenge, then, is to stop looking for a map to success and instead pick up your own compass—your internal values, principles, and commitment to growth—and begin the lifelong, personal, and deeply rewarding journey of pursuing your own brand of excellence.