Ok, so my title really has very little to do with this blog post. It just sounded good and topical.

What I really want to write about today is the importance of your core network, your inner circle. The people who are always there for you, and who try to help whenever they have the opportunity.

Too often we're focused on meeting new people and growing our networks. Yet if you've been meeting people and building relationships for a descent amount of time there's a really good chance you already know the right people. The problem is that you're not spending enough time with them because you're so busy trying to meet new people and grow your network.

Last week I sat down and tried to figure out who my most important friends really were. This had nothing to do with title, position or role. It had everything to do with who I enjoyed spending time with the most. These are the people who I know have my back, and who I will go out of my to go out of my way to help (yes, I said that twice on purpose).

One of the most important lessons I've learned in the last couple of years is just how important these really close friends are. This is something that's taken me a long time to learn, and I hope you can take something away from it.

I highly encourage you to take the time and create your own core network list. Who in your network do you trust the most? Who has worked to help you the most? Who do you just plain like being around? You'll likely be surprised at how short the list is. Mine is only 30 people long, and as you can imagine I've met a rather larger number of people over the years.

Sure you'll have dozens or hundreds, maybe even thousands of other acquaintances. I'm in no way saying that they don't matter. But there's only so much time and you can't possibly build really powerful relationships with hundreds or thousands of people. By building a list you can focus on who is most important. Your list will almost certainly evolve over time. Friends will come and friends will go. Starting a list and maintaining focus on those relationships will insure that a relationship never dies or weakens because of your lack of effort.

What you do with your list is up to you. Perhaps in a future post I'll share in more detail what I've done with mine. Here's a hint: 1) It's important that they know how important they are to me. 2) Introducing them to each other is possibly the most powerful thing I can do for them.

Hopefully this was helpful for you. Start your list today and start connecting. I think you'll be amazed at the results. Happy New Year!

Happy Networking!