The Habit of Excellence

"It's not that I am more intelligent. I'm just infinitely more curious,

 and stick with a problem much longer"

-Albert Einstein

One of the more profound things I have realized over the past few years of existing on this planet, is that intelligence is a habit; that is consciously and painstakingly developed. So is excellence of any other form. Be it mastery over an Art form, a branch of science, a sport... Anything...

Lets talk about the quote this post opened with. Einstein is undisputedly one of the most brilliant minds this planet has seen in recorded history. Yet, I believe this statement of his. His intellectual prowess was a choice he consciously made, and not a "gift from God" or any such other similar cause. Lets now describe what exactly this choice is, and how to go about making it.

The first step is to actually realize that intelligence (or any skill) is a choice. Many fail to pass this preliminary stage itself. It is convenient to dismiss off higher order skills as individual greatness. When my gurus (The Gundecha Brothers... I am learning the Dhrupad form of Indian Classical from them at their gurukul in Bhopal ) sing, I naturally tend to fall into a state of wonder at their sheer brilliance and mastery, and  I switch into a sort of "worship" (for want of a better word) mode.. It is very convenient to think of them as superior beings, probably granted a boon by some astral being. This is fine to a certain extent, but it is very important for me to remember that they were not musically gifted. Rather, they were gifted with sincerity, a capacity to persevere and keep moving in face of complete lack of motivation too.These gifts, they translated into the amazing musical ability they possess today, over a period of many years of dedicated effort and hard work. And these gifts that they have are ones that we all have access to. The problem is not in a person not being talented. The problem is in the definition of "talent" and a failure to see that the basic ingredients are present in all of us.

At the darker end of the spectrum, this lack of understanding manifests as a self-assumption of mediocrity and lack of enthusiasm to begin acquiring something new, or giving up what has been begun. Lighter shades of this phenomenon manifest as frustration, a sense of stagnation, lack of stability and focus, loosing the mind to distractions and so on in varying magnitudes.

To achieve excellence in any field, one must spend immense amounts of time with the pursuit, understanding it, communicating with it, analyzing it, and internalizing its characteristics to the extent where he/she begins to feel it strongly as a heightened sense of intuition. Classical musicians use the term "Riyaaz" to mean exactly this. While doing Riyaaz, I go through all that mentioned in the previous paragraph. The mind wanders, I get frustrated attempting to understand a particular task. All the frustration is on failing to do a particular task. I have seen that when I take a pause for a few moments, remind myself that I simply have to choose to do what I am trying to do, and then push through with systematic and preconceived effort, I manage what I am trying to do. The challenge is to keep reminding myself of this. It is not an easy task. My mind wanders when I do not fully make the choice to concentrate.

I have now begun to understand that excellence is just a choice. The next challenge is to start making that choice. This statement may seem very silly. After all, who would "not choose" to excel at something he/she could? If only things were that simple. Many times, we don't even want to do what we are doing. Another tendency is to settle for less than the best. Now if 70% truly and sincerely pleases you, it is fine. In fact, we pick up certain pursuits with no intent of mastering them, just as a hobby or to satisfy a mild curiosity. Here it is absolutely fine to settle for mediocrity. But otherwise, it will just not do. We need to decide to settle for nothing less that 100% and keep pushing until we get there.

Many factors influence the ability to make this decision and cultivate this habit we are discussing. The more prominent ones are the company one keeps and the lifestyle one lives. Whatever little I have managed to do in my life, I owe entirely to the support of an amazing set of friends and mentors I have been blessed with. So too do others claim, who have achieved in life. Good company keeps the mind from sinking into the many many traps that lie lurking within, and help one choose to aspire for the highest. Lifestyle enables one to execute this decision. Lifestyle, to me, is just a matter of balancing priorities. Giving due importance to physical fitness (includes exercising, diet control etc..), assigning time wisely to the various tasks that the individual is committed to, taking just enough (both too much and too little are very dangerous :P ) time to relax and charge oneself, basically to chill, and time to meditate (much needed relaxation for the mind).

With my limited, but growing understanding of life, this is the recipe to excellence I have come up with. The dish is still in its initial stages of preparation. I hope the output comes out really tasty... :D