It won’t do you any good to create a network if you build it with people who don’t support your end goal. Having the wrong network can turn out to be worse than not having one at all. There are five specific types of people you want to include in your network. These people will be instrumental in helping you achieve your goals.

The first person that you need to have alongside you is a mentor. This individual will be able to offer you guidance and advice. He or she can suggest when the time is right to take an opportunity – and when to wait. They may also be able to help keep you from making a mistake. It’s wise to have someone on your side who’s been there, done that. You can learn from their knowledge as well as from their setbacks.

A mentor is great at helping you build your self esteem to the point where you can rely on your gut instinct. They help with pinpointing your obstacles and the places where you feel most vulnerable, giving you the power to

Opposite of a mentor, you also want to have someone that you mentor. This is because having someone in your network that you help along the way will work to keep your leadership skills revved up. Someone that you’re mentoring can help you with fresh ideas as well. You get to see where your niche needs help and find ways that will assist others in reaching their end goals, too.

In your network, you also want a creative thinker. Many creative thinkers are also dreamers. This will be someone who will root for your ideas and support your dreams – even if you haven’t taken a single step to make those dreams a reality yet. Creative thinkers are people who help you learn how to set yourself apart from the crowd in you niche. You have to be able to differentiate yourself within the niche if you want to keep achieving bigger and better goals along the way. This type of person is someone who you can bounce ideas off of and then brainstorm an amazing result that will wow your audience and make your competition (and prospective JV partners) sit up and take notice.

But besides the creative thinker, you also want the analytical thinker. This person won’t be someone telling you that something can’t be achieved. Instead, he or she will be someone who can help keep you grounded. Not all dreams and ambitions are meant to come to fruition. This person can help you see what steps you do need to take in order to have the success that you want. If something is unattainable, they’ll not only tell you that it is, but why – so that you can find a workaround, if possible.

Finally, you need someone who’s good at finding information for the purpose of helping you get ahead with your goals. This person will connect you to people or opportunities. They will help find ways for you to network that you may not know about. This type of person loves introducing mutual friends who they know could use each others’ ideas.

Building your network is an evergreen task that you should always be pursuing. You have to be able to simultaneously take risks in connecting with someone who might shock you in a good way – and cautious about pairing up with those who can derail your best efforts or make you look like you’re aligned with the wrong people.