The people who made you smile this year (and why they're the only ones who matter)

I write weekly about the strategies, habits, and tactics around cultivating the connections that matter to you.

Pull up your calendar from last January. Scroll through the meetings and coffee chats. Pay attention to your physical reaction as each name appears. Who makes you smile? Who makes you exhale with relief that the meeting is over? And who can you barely remember at all?

Group one: Energy givers. The people who leave you feeling more alive, more curious, more capable. Conversation flows like water.

Group two: Energy drainers. Pushing a boulder uphill. Every interaction costs you something.

Group three: The forgettables (no, not deplorables). You met them, you talked, nothing happened.

Now, repeat for the rest of the year. Yes, I am doing this exact exercise this week.

Here's your entire networking strategy for next year: spend more time with group one.

Why this matters

We've been trained to network "strategically." Chase the big names. Connect with decision makers. Meanwhile, we ignore the actual humans we genuinely enjoy because we can't immediately see their utility.

But the people who energize you are almost always the same people who end up mattering most to your career anyway. Not because you extracted value from them, but because real relationships create real opportunities. The person who makes you laugh on every call? They're going to remember you when something comes up. That colleague who asks thoughtful questions about your life? They're building the kind of trust that actually moves things forward.

Here's something nobody admits out loud: you already know who the good ones are.

You don't need some ranking algorithm to tell you which people brought you energy this year and which ones made you want to fake a dropped call. Your gut knows. That slight lift when their name pops up versus that little knot of dread when you see someone else's.

What to actually do

Look at your group one list. Set up time with them. Not because you need something. Just because you like them and they like you and that's reason enough.

Stop forcing relationships with group two. Life is too short. Your calendar is too full. Be polite, be professional, but stop investing in connections that drain you.

And group three? Let them go.

You don't need a bigger network. You need a better one. Next year, spend your relationship capital on the people who already proved they're worth it.

Until next week, Zvi

P.S. Next year’s KPI: fewer sighs, more smiles.

On YouTube: The Fastest Way to Kill “What If” Anxiety

Ever sit there hovering over “send,” running through a dozen what if they think I’m weird scenarios? In this video, I’ll show you a simple way to snap out of that spiral and reach out anyway—without making it a big thing.

Topics we cover:

• Why your brain treats “no response” like a survival threat

• The “what if” spiral (and how it quietly keeps you stuck)

• A simple risk vs reward question to calm the fear fast

• Reframing rejection as a filter (not a failure)

• An easy check-in outreach idea you can use with past clients or friends

You can see all my videos and interviews on my channel! If you find these helpful, I’d appreciate a like, subscribe, and share with a friend, colleague, or enemy.

If you found this valuable, you might love Relatable. It’s the CRM built from the ground up to help you grow your network, not your business pipeline (but it does that too).