The Habit of Excellence

Two quotes have been on my mind:

“You are what you repeatedly do. Therefore, excellence is not an act; it is a habit.” —Will Durant

“Excellence is the ability to endure pain.” —Isadore Sharp, founder of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts

Last night, my three-year-old son was not feeling well. After an active day at a pool party, he came home Saturday evening with a runny nose. Between Sunday and Monday, his symptoms accelerated to the point that he needed to go to the hospital.

Seeing my little boy in discomfort is never easy. As a father, you just want to fix the pain. But as I sat beside him in his hospital room, my mind turned toward the idea of pain itself.

We all experience hardship and pain throughout our lives. It may come through the loss of a loved one, an injury, financial pressure, stress, anxiety, or physical impairment. Whatever form it takes, we all go through seasons—or at least moments—of discomfort.

Last week, I wrote about vision and its different components. Today, my mind went toward how vision, excellence, and habit all come together.

When Isadore Sharp defined excellence as the ability to endure pain, he was referring to the long road of consistently showing up, fighting, and striving for the highest level of performance. That is difficult because the circumstances in which we are expected to perform are always changing. Sometimes times are good. Sometimes they are bad.

The ability to endure means being able to perform at the same level regardless of the conditions.

That brings me back to habit. Will Durant wrote that we are what we repeatedly do. Therefore, excellence—and the ability to endure the pain required to achieve it—cannot be something we summon at the last minute. It must become systematic. It must become how we operate, regardless of the circumstances.

When I look at our restaurant, my family, and the person I want to become, I think about these definitions and the habits they require.

I want to show up as my best self for my family because they are paramount. Making that commitment a foundational non-negotiable also changes how I approach the hardships of business. Business is difficult, but I think that is part of the purpose of vision.

My mind keeps returning to vision because having a clear and inspiring understanding of who you are and where you are going reinforces the habits required to get there. Vision creates the habit of excellence. It strengthens your ability to endure pain consistently because your actions are anchored to a compass—a formula for success.

You know that if you continue doing the right things, regardless of the circumstances, the result you are pursuing becomes increasingly inevitable.

So, as I sat beside my son in the hospital, I continued working. I slept in a chair next to him while he watched Spider-Man from his hospital bed. I mapped out labor models, worked through financials, and held meetings from the hospital.

This was not about choosing the business over being a father. In that moment, being his father was the priority, and I was grateful to be there with him. It was about honoring both responsibilities within the reality of the circumstances in front of me.

This is sometimes what performance looks like. It is not always glamorous or perfectly structured. Sometimes it means doing the work from a hospital room while remaining fully present for the person who needs you most.

Hopefully, the context will not always be something painful or negative. But there will always be another challenge. Pain and hardship are inevitable—in life and in business.

A clear vision, a compelling reason, and a compass of core values do not make these seasons easy. They make your response more systematic. They establish an operating framework that tells you how to show up when circumstances are less than ideal.

Excellence, then, is not one extraordinary act performed at the perfect moment. It is the habit of remaining faithful to who you have decided to be—especially when doing so hurts.