Invest in people who are Fun, Ambitious and Talented, or build your own two- or three-word filter for who gets your time.
The idea
After a decade of helping professionals with their relationships, I've noticed the best relationship builders have clear criteria for who gets their time, and follower count is never one of them. Joe Polish uses ELF: Easy, Lucrative, Fun. If someone isn't easy to work with, won't lead to mutual benefit, or isn't enjoyable, why invest? Mine is FAT. Fun: I have to enjoy being around them; life's too short for forced interactions. Ambitious: they're striving for something, personal or professional, and that energy is contagious. Talented: the mix of energy, ambition and skill that makes big things happen. The point is having a filter, and ideally your own.
How to do it
Write down the last 3-5 people you genuinely enjoyed interacting with, the ones who left you energized.
Ask what they share. Skip job titles and industries; look for qualities.
Narrow it to 2-3 core criteria. Bonus points for a snazzy acronym.
Test it on your current network. Does it separate who energizes you from who drains you?
Example
I landed on FAT after a lot of self-reflection and one accidental over-pour of ghost pepper hot sauce into my chili, which triggered something close to a mystical experience. (No, now's not the time for FAT jokes. This is serious business.)
Watch out for
Use Joe's, mine, or your own, as long as it works for YOU. Not what some random newsletter writer tells you to use (yes, even me).
Connection Over Value: Choose who to stay close to by who you genuinely like, not who seems important, because liking is what makes you actually reach out.
The Little Black Book: Keep a running list of promising people early in their careers and get in their corner before everyone else wants a piece of them.
See Who They Could Become: Engage people for who they could become, beyond their current title: ask about strengths their role doesn't use, and back that direction.
The +2 Energy Rating: After interactions, rate how you feel from -2 to +2, rate three standouts each day, and give more of your time to the +2s.