There’s a skill that can make you more money than sales, marketing, or even AI.
I know that’s a bold claim, but I’ve spent 29 years in business going from a broke 24-year-old to building a $100M/year AI venture studio…
… and I’ve noticed the biggest leaps in my life always came from a single source: Relationships.
And I don’t mean networking or collecting contacts. I mean building real, intentional relationships with high-quality people.
Here are the four reasons (and ways) you need to master this skill.
1. Steel Sharpens Steel
The people you spend time with don’t just make life more enjoyable…
They multiply your skills. Expand your thinking. Accelerate your results in ways that no course or book can.
My friend Taki Moore is a perfect example.
I hired Taki 8 years ago to help me understand personal brand, IP, content strategy… the stuff I knew nothing about as a software guy. We poured into each other.
Two years ago, he hired me to coach him…
That’s what reciprocal high-level relationships look like. They’re not transactional. They’re not one-directional. It’s two people who keep leveling up together.
Here’s how to find your “Taki”:
Write down the five people you spend the most time with. Ask yourself honestly:
- Are they operating at the level I want to reach?
- Do I learn from them? Do they learn from me?
- Do conversations leave me energized and expanded, or drained and stagnant?
If the answer to any of those is uncomfortable, that’s your signal that it’s time for an upgrade.
2. It Pays to Be Intentional
I flew 3,000 miles to spend 28 minutes with someone I care deeply about… John Maxwell.
I didn’t do it for a deal or a collab. I did it just to hangout with a man I admire.
Most people aren’t surrounded by bad people. They’re surrounded by limited people. That’s a harder truth to face because limited people can be kind, well-meaning, even loyal.
But if their ceiling restricts your potential, proximity to them will cost you.
At the end of every year, I review your goals and then write down the relationships you need to create to achieve them.
Here’s how to do it:
- Write your top 3–5 goals for the year.
- Ask: “Who, if I knew them, would make this goal 10x easier or faster?”
- Write those names down — even if you don’t know them yet.
- Leave the list somewhere visible. Revisit it monthly.
I wrote Rob Dyrdek’s name on my list. I didn’t even know him.
But a few months later? I got a text from Rob out of nowhere. He read my books. Got my number from a mutual friend. Wanted to connect.
The list primed me to be ready, to be visible, and to believe that the moment would come.
3. Relationships Unlock God-Sized Goals
One of the most pivotal conversations of my life happened with John Maxwell at his event, maybe four years ago.
I was blown away just being in his presence. I asked him: “How do you do it all?”
He said something that rewired my thinking: “I have goals that are God-sized goals. They’re so big they’re beyond my ability to know how to do them.”
That conversation made me realize I was under-indexing. Thinking small.
The scale of your goals forces you to find people, build teams, and invest in relationships you couldn’t have imagined needing.
Here’s how to unlock this…
Set one goal so BIG it requires other people to pull it off. Seriously.
Pick one ambition that, if you achieved it, would shock you.
Then ask: What kind of people would I need around me to even attempt this?
Start there. Build toward the goal by building toward those people.
4. It’s Not Who You Know, It’s Who Knows You
Old-school networking was cold emails, awkward events, asking to “pick someone’s brain.”
Exhausting. Slow. And honestly… It barely worked, even back then.
Relationship-building today? It’s all about content.
Sharing stories and lessons, adding value. Then letting relationships come to you.
I knew about Rob Dyrdek for 2 decades, but he messaged me because of who knew me, not because of who I knew.
The effort it takes to post one video that reaches 14 million people is the same effort it takes to post one that reaches 140.
You put it out. The platform does the networking while you sleep.
Treat content as a relationship engine.
Every piece of content you publish is a signal flare to the right people. Ask yourself before you post:
- Does this communicate my values clearly?
- Would the kind of person I want to know recognize themselves in this?
- Am I showing up fully (real perspective, real experience) or am I hedging?
If you don’t have a platform yet, start one.
It doesn’t matter where. Pick one channel and show up consistently.
The compound effect on inbound relationships is massive.
-DM