In my opinion, he’s overstating the need people feel to excel in their hobbies. But even exaggerated, some good points in there.
When your identity is linked to your hobby — you’re a yogi, a surfer, a rock climber — you’d better be good at it, or else who are you? […]
In a way that we rarely appreciate, the demands of excellence are at war with what we call freedom. For to permit yourself to do only that which you are good at is to be trapped in a cage whose bars are not steel but self-judgment. […]
[T]he simple pleasure of doing something you merely, but truly, enjoy.