Excellence Is Not a Destination— It’s an Identity

There’s a certain mythology around success — one that tells us it arrives in a singular, triumphant moment. The moment when, after years of work, we finally “make it.” But what if the real reward isn’t the summit at all? What if it’s the climb?

In her essay The Happiness of Excellence, Brianna Wiest explores this idea through three forms of happiness: the happiness of pleasure, the happiness of grace, and the happiness of excellence.

Pleasure is sensory: a great meal, a warm bed, the smell of rain. Grace is gratitude, the quiet peace of appreciating what you have. But excellence — excellence is different. It is not the thrill of the finish line, but the deep, sometimes grueling satisfaction of the work itself. “It is meaningful work. It is flow. It is the purpose that sears identity and builds character,” she writes.

The Myth of Arrival

In work, in product design, and in leadership, the happiness of excellence is the fuel that keeps the engine running long after initial enthusiasm is gone. Too often, we fixate on arrival. Launching the product, securing the promotion, receiving recognition. But the truth is, the most skilled designers, the most impactful leaders, and the most fulfilled professionals are the ones who find joy not in arriving, but in becoming.

Wiest warns of what happens when we ignore this truth. People who do not cultivate the happiness of excellence often chase pleasure as a substitute. They drink to excess, seek fleeting highs, avoid the long, slow burn of mastery. “Lots and lots of red will never make blue,” she writes. No amount of quick wins will replace the deep satisfaction of true craft.

The Work of Emotional Resilience

The pursuit of excellence, at its core, is the work of emotional resilience. It’s the discipline of iteration — of revising, testing, and refining when the first draft is mediocre, when the design doesn’t land, when the product isn’t quite there yet. It’s resisting the temptation to settle for “good enough” when you know “great” is still within reach.

It’s also, perhaps most importantly, a mindset shift. We are conditioned to see struggle as a sign of failure, as an indicator that we are not naturally talented, that we do not belong. But in reality, the discomfort of pushing through difficulty is the surest sign we are on the right path. As Wiest reminds us, the early days of marathon training aren’t exhilarating — they are miserable. Your lungs burn. Your legs ache. You want to quit. But then, something shifts. You get stronger. The work becomes a part of you.

This is the core of great design. It’s not simply about aesthetics or usability or shipping fast. It’s about the patience to do things right when cutting corners would be easier. It’s about valuing craft over convenience. It’s about being willing to wrestle with complexity, to sit with hard problems until something brilliant emerges.

Excellence as Identity

The greatest misconception about excellence is that it’s an achievement. It’s not. It’s a way of being. It is, as Wiest puts it, “not accomplishment, but identity.”

Great designers, great leaders, and great creators don’t just do excellent work — they become excellent through the work. They seek out challenge not because it is easy, but because they understand that struggle is the path to mastery.

To lead, to create, or to build something truly great is to commit to a lifelong pursuit, knowing that there is no final destination — only deeper levels of skill, insight, and understanding.