 This study here by Sprecher and Reagan in 2002, this was published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, and yes, there is a journal about the social and personal relationships out there, and it's actually quite influential. So this study looked at the qualities that people prioritize in friendships, as well as in romantic relationships, but I'll put that to the side for another episode and just look at those platonic relationships, those friendships. So the main findings in that study was that what people are really looking for is trustworthiness, it's warmth, it's a sense of humor. Those were the most highly valued attributes that people were looking for. Now, how easy is it to bring those values forth? We're not asking for a PhD in neuroscience, right? We're asking for trustworthiness, for warmth, for a little bit of humor, for a smile, for a little bit of ease in talking to people and cracking a smile easily. How easy is that to do? So what they also found is that there is a preference for people that share your values and that share your beliefs. So that is your wolf pack, right? You're not going to someone who believes in the exact opposite and values, the exact opposite, and your wolf pack consists of mountain bikers and not of people that go drinking because that's what they enjoy and that works perfectly well. You just flock, you just come together with people that have those similar values. Now, even in romantic relationships, these internal qualities, like trustworthiness, warmth, whatever I've just mentioned, they also increase there. At the beginning, it's a little bit different. There is attractiveness and all the superficial stuff, especially in the first, second date, but over time then these exact qualities are also those that are prioritized the most. And in that study that they quote in both types of relationships, the most preferred qualities were again, trustworthiness, warmth, and a sense of humor. It's that simple. So how do we leverage the science here? And this is what we call our social capital. It's really built on three pillars. It's your relationships, it's your knowledge, and it's your emotional support. So you already have relationships. And if you can introduce people who can help one another, who share the same values, who are great people, you're the linchpin, you're the person that they're gonna think of that brought them together that increases your social value. That makes you trustworthy, right? It implicitly makes you trustworthy if you're sharing your relationships. Now, knowledge, okay, let's be honest. Maybe your knowledge in your career isn't that impactful to your social circle. I, for one, don't wanna be constantly coaching all of my friends and talking about everything we talk about on the podcast here. Maybe you don't wanna be doing your friends' taxes. Maybe you don't wanna be giving your friends' investment advice. Totally get it. Your knowledge in your career is only one facet of the knowledge you have. You might know how to swing the golf club better than anyone. You might know how to master your short game. You might know where all the best micro brews are in the greater Chicago area. That's knowledge that's valuable to your friend group. One of our clients, Chris, so he has a friend who's leveraged this to a tee. His knowledge is all the best new restaurants in his town. He loves food, he reads all the food bloggers and critics and he knows when a restaurant is opening so well that he will sometimes get invited to their soft opening before anyone else gets an invite. And that knowledge he's used to bring his friends together to come into town from the suburbs and hang out. And when I was talking to Chris about this, a light bulb went off. He was like, wait a second, my friend is using his social capital to bring us together. That's an example of knowledge that's really impactful and valuable to your social circle.