Find your kind of people.

Last year, I was in NYC hanging out with some cool peeps when Chris Brogan said something about “my kind of people.”

That phrase struck me.

And since then I’ve noticed that while I get to meet a lot of people, I bond best with “my kind of people.”

For example – Mr. Weaver. I invited him to the Sausage Showdown last year, and he instantly accepted. Ever since then, we’ve chatted about food and life and just enjoying the fruits of our labor.

When I hit him with a link to the Chocolate Chip Cookie Off yesterday, BAM – 5 minutes later he had bought two tickets ($1000). Then we talked about the food scene in Nawlins (if you ever get the original muffuletta, make sure you SHARE it with someone – that thing is insane).

And then earlier this year, when I went to DC because Barry invited me to courtside with Raptors because HE couldn’t come to the NYC Cookie Off (even though he had donated $500!)

Hanging with Mike Feldstein next week (go look up what he does) at a Raptors game (damn, the NBA seems to be a recurring theme).

Talking about the power of words with dudes like Clay.

Guys like Brian Dean who is a rockstar in the SEO world but legitimately one of the chillest dudes ever (I’m thinking of doing an online auction… more on that later… and I asked Brian if he’d be in. He instantly said yes *and* insisted he still buy a ticket!)

Dudes like Mike Brown doing “I had no clue something like this existed” stuff (go look up what he does).

Peeps like Chris Winfield and Laurel Touby (talk about being OG) who are thoughtful in bringing people together.

Bosses like Helene Godin who completely changed profession (from lawyer to GF-baker!) who you meet and instantly think “oh man, this person is powerhouse.”

People like Phil Caravaggio who is one of the most giving humans I’ve ever run into (I’m posting about how he helped Ray Dalio’s book happen next week).

Individuals like Brent Underwood who make my muckraking look like amateur hour.

This is one of those meandering status updates that’s mostly a product of my joy (already 24% sold out cookie off – that’s $12,000 for charity – in 24h!!) and accomplishments (Examine.com just turned seven years old!) … but there are two things we can distill:

1. There are too many successful people out there to try to ingratiate themselves with everyone. Just befriend the ones you get along with and you’ll have fun. You’ll actually have those 3 hour lunches where you look at your watch and go “oh shit!”
2. Personally, I find focusing on people who are building actual businesses are some of the most grounded individuals. Marketers and life coaches are a dime-a-dozen (last time I had a convo with a life coach there were so many superlatives thrown out that it felt like he was attempting to vomit out a rainbow…)

Find “your kind of people.”