I think that anyone who cares about his work should strive to be an excellent scholar. Here are some thoughts of how one might achieve it.

Keep your contacts
I read somewhere (a few years ago) that I well known musicologist (I forgot his or her name) one suggested that a scholar should keep his contact book well organized. This piece of advice is worth gold. If I have achieved a few things in the past few years, it was a lot due to contacts that I kept. Yes, you must know to do the work. However, keep in good contact with people that are aware of your work, can recommend your work to others and might offer you things when they turn up

Think about your goals
Know what is interesting for you, what is important in your eyes and to where you are heading. Excellent scholars are long run swimmers. All your work should be structured around your goals. It is good here and there to reexamine your goals and to let yourself do things that are completely unexpected or unrelated to your goals. This might help your creativity and it might help you benefit from new discoveries. However, a scholar without clear goals is like a ship without a captain. Keep this in mind when you prepare a research proposal.

Methodology
When you read the works of others think not only about what they say but also about the methods they use to do research and to present it. Methodology is a big issue. Good methodologies are the key for major discoveries and achievements.

Pray to God
It is true that one needs to work hard to be an excellent scholar. Luck however is also very important. You should be in the right place and in the right time, and speak to the right people. Go to conferences. Be friendly. But most important, pray to God.