You Can’t Microwave Success

Success for an athlete means consistently showing excellence in her sport, and that takes dedication, hard work, discipline, and mature decision-making. It also means training to reach new levels, building the mental grit to handle real pressure, and having the right people around her, coaches, teammates, family, who actually push her toward growth instead of just cheering from the sidelines. At the end of the day, success is about setting real goals and reaching them in a way that actually satisfies you, not just looks good from the outside.

There are a few popular misconceptions about what it takes to succeed in college athletics. That it's easy. That talent alone gets you there. That academics are optional if you're good enough on the court. None of that holds up. Reaching the top tier in college athletics takes real hard work, real dedication, and a genuine commitment to balancing schoolwork with training and competition, on top of having a support system, coaches especially, who are actually committed to helping an athlete reach her goals.

The human hunger for instant gratification works directly against success in college athletics. It undermines the long-term commitment that actually gets an athlete somewhere. Progressing your skills over years, not weeks, is the only way to truly excel at the college level, and the craving for a quick reward can make that grind feel unbearable. The Bible has real things to say about this. It calls us to patience and to putting our trust in God, and it warns us plainly about chasing immediate gratification. Proverbs 13:12 says it this way: "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life." True fulfillment doesn't come from a shortcut. It comes from a life actually devoted to something bigger than the next quick win.

So... "You can't microwave success." A good friend and colleague of mine, David Irizarry, told me that a few years back. David is the current Athletic Director at IDEA North Mission and a former NFL player who knows a thing or two about hard work. Success doesn't come overnight or with a shortcut. It takes sustained effort, real commitment, and actual passion for what you're doing. David put it this way: "It's like cooking meat in the oven. You gotta season yourself with the grind, marinate yourself, then place in the oven. Be patient and maintain consistent heat. You'll come out ready when you've been properly prepared. Rest then serve." (My vegan heart will forgive him the meat analogy.)

Colossians 3:23-24 reminds us that our work should honor and glorify God, even when we're pushing ourselves to our limits on the court. It says, "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ." That also means setting expectations that are actually realistic, and accepting that progress takes time as you sharpen your skills, build mental toughness, grow real relationships, and adjust when circumstances change. Instant gratification was never true success. Real success is striving for excellence and finding fulfillment in actually reaching what you set out for.

Kara Lawson is one of the most accomplished people in women's basketball today. She was a two-time All-American and four-time All-SEC selection at the University of Tennessee, playing for the legendary Pat Summitt and leading the Lady Vols to three Final Four appearances. She went on to win a WNBA championship and an Olympic gold medal, and today she's the head coach at Duke, where she's rebuilt the program into a national contender, and she was recently named head coach of the USA Basketball Women's National Team. By consistently choosing to do hard things better, Lawson has reached heights most people only dream about, on and off the court, and she's inspired plenty of athletes to follow her lead.

Lawson's mantra, "Handle Hard Better," went viral for a reason. It's a reminder that college sports were never meant to be accessible to everyone, and that it takes real work to actually excel at that level. It's a call to keep improving, to push past your comfort zone, to take ownership of your own development, and to never settle for mediocrity just because it's easier. When an athlete actually commits to handling hard things better, one day at a time, she gets to new heights she couldn't have reached any other way.

So to every athlete reading this, here's my call to action. Put in the work. Hustle every single day. Persevere through whatever adversity shows up. Take ownership of your own development and push yourself harder than you thought you could. Do what other people won't. Put in the extra time when nobody's watching. Be better than the best version of yourself you can currently picture. Hard work pays off, so don't shy away from the hard stuff. And if you actually want to handle hard better, just remember: you can't microwave success.