Handbook inc.’s Success Super Book : a definitive Consolidation of 25 Perspectives to Guide your Future Success

This 1 Quote From 
Kobe Bryant Is All You 
Need to Know About 
His Success
BY MATT GIVEN@INTELIVIDEOMATT

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IN C . C O M
6 4
IN C .’ S S U C C E S S S U P E R B O O K : A D E F INI T I V E C O N S O L ID AT IO N O F 2 5 P E R S P EC T I V E S TO G UID E YO U R F U T U R E S U C C E S S
“THOSE TIME 
WHEN YOU 
GET UP EARLY... 
THOSE TIMES 
WHEN YOU 
STAY UP LATE... 
WHEN YOU’RE 
TOO TIRED... 
YOU DON’T 
WANT TO PUSH 
YOURSELF, 
BUT YOU DO IT 
ANYWAY.”
“Those times when you get up early and you work hard,” Bryant 
said during the number-retirement ceremony. “Those times you 
stay up late and you work hard. Those times when you don’t feel 
like working. You’re too tired. You don’t want to push yourself, but 
you do it anyway. That is actually the dream.”
Bryant’s career has mirrored the path many entrepreneurs 
travel. By any measure, he has made it. But, don’t be fooled: 
Understanding his approach to the process is the lesson for any 
entrepreneur.
It’s about the work, not the result.
Bryant was an 18-time All-Star, 15-time member of the all-NBA 
team, won five championships, and finished his career third on 
the all-time scoring list. He won Olympic gold medals in 2008 and 
2012 for Team USA. He holds the record as the NBA player with 
the longest tenure with one NBA franchise.
He is a future Hall-of-Famer.
Still, Bryant says “the dream” was the work it took to get there. 
Let’s remember his quote from the ceremony:
“Those time when you get up early... those times when you stay up 
late... when you’re too tired... you don’t want to push yourself, but 
you do it anyway.”
“That is actually the dream.”

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IN C . C O M
6 5
IN C .’ S S U C C E S S S U P E R B O O K : A D E F INI T I V E C O N S O L ID AT IO N O F 2 5 P E R S P EC T I V E S TO G UID E YO U R F U T U R E S U C C E S S
AS A BUSINESS 
PRO, YES, 
OUTWORKING 
YOUR PEERS 
CAN BE A 
STRATEGY.
Bryant’s work ethic is legendary (and that’s an understatement).
Bryant would show up for 7 a.m. practices at 5 a.m. After high 
school practices, he’d make teammates stay to play games of one-
on-one to 100.
Lakers head coach Byron Scott would find a sweaty 18-year-old 
rookie Bryant in a darkened gym, two hours before practice, doing 
individual shooting and dribbling drills.
He routinely outworked the NBA’s best players. During the run-up 
to the 2008 Olympics, he did full predawn workouts before official 
practices started.
Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade recounted such an episode to 
ESPN’s Michael Wallace. “We’re in Las Vegas and we all come 
down for team breakfast at the start of the whole training camp,” 
Bosh said. “And Kobe comes in with ice on his knees. He’s got sweat 
drenched through his workout gear. And I’m like, ‘It’s 8 o’clock in 
the morning. Where is he coming from?’”
Wade added, “Everybody else just woke up. We’re all yawning, and 
he’s already three hours and a full workout into his day.”
It wasn’t just on the court. Bryant claims to have taught himself to 
play Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata on the piano throughout the 
course of a season.
As a business pro, yes, outworking your peers can be a strategy.

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IN C . C O M
6 6
IN C .’ S S U C C E S S S U P E R B O O K : A D E F INI T I V E C O N S O L ID AT IO N O F 2 5 P E R S P EC T I V E S TO G UID E YO U R F U T U R E S U C C E S S
WHILE 
BRYANT’S 
NBA CAREER 
IS DONE, HIS 
LEGACY LIVES 
ON IN THE 
RAFTERS OF 
THE STAPLES 
CENTER. 
The same concepts apply to business.
Now out of the league, Bryant appears to be shifting his attention 
to the business and entrepreneurial world. He has been known to 
text successful business friends at all hours of the night and cold 
call others who catch his interest via a tweet or article.
Bryant told Bloomberg Businessweek:
I’ll just cold call people and pick their brain about stuff. Some of 
the questions that I ask will seem really, really simple and stupid, 
quite honestly, for them. But if I don’t know, I don’t know. You 
have to ask. I’ll just do that. I’ll just ask questions and I want to 
know more about how they build their businesses and how they 
run their companies and how they see the world.
While Bryant’s NBA career is done, his legacy lives on in the 
rafters of the Staples Center. But it was clear during the retirement 
ceremony for those jerseys: He’s interested in a different kind of 
legacy. One that speaks to the process to reach the accomplishment 
over the accomplishment itself.
The same can be said for building a great business or career. The 
accomplishments you achieve are an afterthought to the process it 
takes to get there. The work is the dream.
I’m guessing we haven’t seen the last of Kobe Bryant.

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IN C . C O M
6 7
IN C .’ S S U C C E S S S U P E R B O O K : A D E F INI T I V E C O N S O L ID AT IO N O F 2 5 P E R S P EC T I V E S TO G UID E YO U R F U T U R E S U C C E S S
Success, as with most things, starts with attitude. When you’re 
struggling, a small burst of inspiration can make a huge difference.
Here are 75 quotes about success to inspire you to keep pushing 
forward and achieve your dreams.
1. “If you set your goals ridiculously high and it’s a failure, you 
will fail above everyone else’s success.” James Cameron
2. “Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking 
for it.” Henry David Thoreau
3. “Things work out best for those who make the best of how 
things work out.” John Wooden
4. “Entrepreneurs average 3.8 failures before final success. What 
sets the successful ones apart is their amazing persistence.” Lisa 
M. Amos
5. “If you are not willing to risk the usual, you will have to settle 
for the ordinary.” Jim Rohn
SOMETIMES 
THE INSPIRA-
TION YOU NEED 
TO ACHIEVE 
YOUR DREAMS 
CAN BE FOUND 
IN A FEW SIM-
PLE WORDS OF 
WISDOM.