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

8. Make the most of your commute.
“I try to maximize my time by using my commute for planning 
and thinking. Several days a week I jog or bike to work to give 
my mind space to decompress and mull over business problems. 
Research has shown that exercise improves memory and learning, 
and I’ve found it helps my creativity. Often ideas that come to me 
during my commute are then the basis for directions the company 
will take within the next week or month.”

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AVOID 
MEETINGS AND 
DON’T ALLOW 
BRIEFINGS.
--Lisa Shields, founder and CEO of FI.SPAN, a cloud native API 
orchestration platform working with three of the top 10 U.S. banks, 
including JPMorgan Chase
9. Never leave any emails unread.
“My inbox has zero or close to zero emails and it has been that 
way for years. My rules are: First, when I get an email, I will 
respond to it right away if I think it needs my response, as much 
as possible. Second, if I have to think about it, I will mostly do it in 
24 hours or acknowledge if it is going to take longer. Third, if they 
do not meet the first or second rule, I will never respond to them. 
Fourth, for topics I am not interested in, I will put a rule to auto-
delete them so as not to waste my time. This helps me be on top of 
things and stay productive.”
--Anant Kale, founder and CEO of AppZen, which provides AI-
based spend auditing of expense reports, invoices, and contracts for 
Fortune 1000 companies
10. Smile and talk to strangers.
“Growing up in Texas, it was normal behavior to look someone 
in the eye and smile at them as they walk toward you on the 
sidewalk. Living in Boston and now San Francisco, it became clear 
that’s definitely not normal behavior everywhere. I found myself 
conforming, and then realized that just saying ‘Good morning’ to 
someone in the elevator or having a short conversation with my 

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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
KEEP UP ON 
WHAT’S GOING 
ON OUTSIDE 
OF YOURSELF 
AND YOUR 
COMPANY.
Uber driver gives me energy to go out and take on the rest of my 
day. It can be so easy for me to get consumed by my own crazy 
day-to-day that I can forget to take a step back and take in the big 
picture, and just getting a quick insight into someone else’s world 
helps me refocus and prioritize what’s happening in mine.”
--Haley Daiber, investor at Unusual Ventures, a seed-stage venture 
capital firm, which raised $160 million to close its first fund in 
2018