In the chase of success, and even perfection, there can be a tipping point if we are not careful.
This tipping point is what led athletes like Andrew Luck and Alyssa Liu to retire early from their sports at the pinnacle of their careers. This is what comedian Jerry Seinfeld feared and why he chose to end the most successful show in television history while it was still at its peak. This is why Danny Meyer, one of the most celebrated restaurateurs in the world, turned down the pursuit of a fourth New York Times’ star.
This tipping point is when the thing you once loved doing becomes more about what it could bring you. The success. The perfection. And as a result, it turns your passion into the thing you have to do, stealing your joy.
Pursuing Excellence, Not Perfection
Danny Meyer built some of the most beloved restaurants in New York City. Shake Shack. Union Square Cafe. Gramercy Tavern. He has spent his career being celebrated, reviewed, and awarded. He knows what excellence looks like because he has built it.
And yet, because Meyer loves the work and wants to continue loving the work, he has been deliberate about not chasing a fourth New York Times’ star. He doesn’t want the pursuit of an external standard of perfection to cost him his internal standard and love of the work itself.
His standard is not driven by something or someone else, but by an honest question he asks himself every day: is this great work today, and how do I make it better tomorrow?
The Difference
There is a version of high standards that fuels you and a version that slowly hollows you out. The difference is where the standard lives.
When it lives inside you, rooted in craft and care and genuine desire to improve, it energizes. You do the work because the work matters to you. You love it. You get better because getting better is the point.
When it lives outside you, in a star rating, a scoreboard, a title, or someone else’s approval, it consumes you. Nothing is ever enough. The joy disappears. And at some point, like Luck, like Liu, or like Seinfeld, you either walk away or you keep going on empty.
Meyer chose a third path. Stay in it, love it, and hold a high standard. Just make sure it’s yours.
