There are a lot of things I’m quite happy to suck at. I’m awful at swimming, I can’t sing, dance nor play the guitar, my ability to code is mediocre at best and despite my best efforts, I suck at drawing. Could I improve with dedicated practice? Almost certainly. But sucking at these things don’t keep me up at night because they don’t matter a whole lot to me. All skills are on a bell curve and for some, I’m happy to settle for average.

But in other fields, like writing, speaking or medicine, the game changes. These skills have great significance to me and developing excellence is not merely a hobby but a necessity. Writing and speaking are the most powerful tools for communication we have and through these I believe we can change the world. Developing these skills is thus a prerequisite for meaningful action. Medical excellence is a moral requirement for improving the field of medicine, and waging war against disease is a battle I am happy to fight.

There exist areas in our lives that demand excellence, where doing a good job is not just a fleeting interest but a moral requirement. Some areas we willingly choose to bear the burden of, some we are simply given by circumstance. Whatever they are, it is our duty – perhaps even our fate – to do them well.