3
Tips for Long-Term Success in an Instant Gratification World
A transactional mindset that
focuses on immediate success rather than patience is leaking into
every aspect of our lives.
EXPERT OPINION BY HOWARD TULLMAN, GENERAL MANAGING PARTNER, G2T3V
AND CHICAGO HIGH TECH INVESTORS @HOWARDTULLMAN1
Feb 17, 2026
These
days, we’re all afflicted with what I call hurry sickness,
where everyone wants everything right now. Amazon’s not entirely to blame for
this, although no single enterprise has done more to enable and encourage the
demands of the world’s consumers for instant gratification. And one of the
clearest messages from Amazon’s aggressive actions and the continual
raising of the delivery bar is that no other retailer (large or small) is
immune from the pressure and necessity to respond and try to compete if they
want to hang on to their customers.
Price is always a
consideration, but speed is now the name of the game. Today, most of
us acknowledge that our time is scarcer and more valuable than our money
in most mundane transactions. One Jeff Bezos quote
that will live in infamy was the observation that “people don’t want
to negotiate the price of things they buy every day.” He went on to make this
theory the very heart of the Amazon pricing algorithms. What’s an
extra buck or two if I can have it delivered this afternoon? Brand
and quality are secondary considerations at best. Ease of access and
convenience are critical.
In an environment where
a million choices are just a click or two away, and where the expectations of buyers are perpetually
progressive, it’s a “what have you done for me lately”
world. Loyalty these days means nothing more than “I haven’t seen anything
better—yet”. This transactional mindset—“what’s in it
for me”—is leaking into every aspect of our lives.
The most shameless
advocate of this selfish and self-serving philosophy is
the Great Grifter himself, for whom everything in life
is about illegal shortcuts, cutting corners, reneging on
promises and running one grift after another by
taking advantage of someone. Trump is too corrupt to be
salvageable, but thousands of student athletes whose lives are being
turned upside down by the financial insanity of the NIL (name, image
and likeness) market aren’t. Neither are the millions of young
prospective entrepreneurs and new business builders who are being told
that learning your craft, paying your dues, and waiting your turn are
stupid strategies in today’s high-speed and hyper-competitive
world.
You don’t need to
know much of the NIL details (which change every six months
anyway) other than to know that since the NCAA changed the rules in
2021, student athletes can now sell and profit directly from their
own name, image and likeness through all manner of
cockamamie side deals, endorsements and promotional
arrangements, and other behind the scenes funding
scams which are now “legal,” if still shabby
and hypocritical.
Even more material
changes in the ability of players to jump from school to school every
year through the transfer portal without any eligibility penalties
came along a few years later and, of course, everyone knows that both the quarterbacks
in the college national championship football game (as well as the Heisman
Trophy winner) were transfer students as were the quarterbacks
in the prior year and those who will start for both teams in
2026.
College ballplayers in multiple sports are being bribed by big donors
and collectives with NIL dollars to jump ship, abandon their
school and teammates, skip the learning curve spent sitting on
the bench, and move to another program where they have a shot at
being a starter whether they’re ready and mature enough for the challenge or
not. Similarly, VCs and headhunters are frantically
pitching second-tier talented A.I. techies at every
major computer company to spin out, grab a couple of buddies, start
their own businesses with Day One unicorn funding, and try to figure
out how to spend hundreds of millions of dollars overnight. Many of these
men and women have never run a Kool-Aid stand before or
frankly managed a team of others.
Just to be clear, most
of the most visible NIL “winners” in the short term (with upfront payments
of millions of dollars) are likely to find that the whole process is a
double-edged sword and that the slightest hiccup in their super-hyped and
expected performance will have them moved aside or dumped
entirely (with their careers in the crapper) in favor of the
next hot guy coming through the transfer portal. In the same way,
hundreds of new A.I.-adjacent startups will implode and
tank (without skid marks) because their founders were in such a
rush and so far out over their skis that no one
could pull off the miracle which they eagerly signed up for at the behest
of the usual greedy VCs.
There are a few
common lessons and plenty of cautions here that apply across the
board. Whether you’re a parent, peer, coach, counselor, prospective
employer or just someone interested in the future mental and physical health
of our kids, it’s essential to remind all these excited jocks,
new business builders, and other up-and-comers of a few facts of life
to accompany and hopefully help to offset all
the sweet talk and “tricks of the trade” that are being
whispered in their ears – especially about their exceptional talent –
by people who see them as nothing more than their latest meal
ticket.
First, you can’t succeed in the long
run by relying on your talent alone, even
if it’s extraordinary. Great competitors in any field will tell
you that failing along the way (especially early in their careers) is what
taught them that it takes more than raw ability to
succeed. Failure is a better teacher than success. When someone does
something really well and gets praised for it, very often they don’t learn
anything new for a long time. But failure can make them confront what they
have been doing wrong and drive them to new learning. Talent combined
with education and mental agility is what wins. Great
quarterbacks aren’t just stronger and more skilled than
the others, they’re much smarter and more analytical
as well. Fernando Mendoza can fling it a mile, but it’s his
powerful pre-snap recognition that makes him a winner and a Number 1
draft.
Second, talent takes some time to temper and
season along with good coaching and mentoring. Managing and
overcoming the inevitable bumps in the road that you face in the
early years builds mental strength, character and
persistence. Winning takes talent, winning repeatedly takes
character. Without some grit, maturity and patience,
you end up being too fragile to succeed instead of
being resilient. Resilience turns out to be at least as critical as
talent, and the combination creates the ability to keep going in the face
of defeat. Before you “roll your
own,” it’s essential that you learn from others and spend some
time as a role player. Waiting and watching pays big
dividends down the line as you discover that you didn’t know what
you didn’t know.
If you try to jump and
grab the brass ring too soon, you may quickly end up empty handed.
Third, it turns out that the most
talented professionals just happen to be among the very hardest
workers as well. They’re constantly building on their base and
they’re absolutely willing to work harder than anyone else and it shows. Carlos
Alcaraz just won the Australian Open and became the youngest man
in tennis history to complete the Grand Slam. Amid all the compliments
about his natural ability and talent, he was careful to point out
that “Nobody knows how hard I have been working” to improve his serve and
other key aspects of his game.
Finally, there’s a
lot to be said – even in these sad days – for loyalty and for focusing on
the here and now rather than on what’s next. Temptations
are everywhere. Plenty of folks will tell you that you’ve got
to seize the moment and move on. But, as one NFL player recently told me about dealing with all
the tantalizing offers and greener grass, his mantra was to “be
where his feet were,” keep his head down and on the ball, not
worry about what other guys were saying or doing, and rely on his own abilities
and performance to make his way forward. He didn’t need to look
elsewhere for his satisfaction or success. Success usually comes to those
who are too busy to be looking for it.
