Advice: Top 5 people in your circle will be responsible for 90% of the opportunities in your career.
When I look back at the decade of 2010 and how it has shaped up for me, I see a repeatable pattern: I get connected with someone by chance (a friend of a friend at a party, an alumnus from the same university, or an event organiser of the event that I'm attending) > I add massive value upfront in their lives without expecting anything in return > the relationship gets strengthened > opportunities start flowing in through that person - sometimes within a few months, other times in a year or two.
Looking back there are about 5 people responsible for all high impact - and often times highly lucrative - opportunities that I've gotten in the last decade.
Having said that, it's been harder than ever now for me to follow this advice as my own internet brands have skyrocketed in popularity and tables have turned in a way that I'm getting a lot of requests from people who'd want to connect with me. But I'm well-aware that I've reached this stage because of the opportunities created for me by some key individuals over the last few years. So I continue to invest in building relationships by providing massive value upfront whenever I sense that the other person is also growth minded or involved in a field that I'm particularly passionate about.