I think the trick here is that by trying to be ever better at a chore you stop filing it mentally as "obstacle in the way of a target I'm trying to reach" and instead as a target in its own right.

The distinction is fairly small but at least for me personally it makes a gigantic difference in how much I like doing a task. If I'm woodworking I generally loathe sanding, it's repetitive, tiring, and dusty. But if I see the sanding as its own mini project I can spend hours getting it perfect.