EP107 Why Being Interested Won’t Change Your Life

Most women stick at “interested”

Interested in reading (or even writing) the book.

Interested in changing their money story so they can be rich as f*ck.

Interested in reinventing themselves.

But interest doesn’t hold when the alarm goes off at 6am on a winter morning.

Interest doesn’t hold when the first “no” knocks you sideways.

Interest doesn’t hold when life gets boring, messy, or hard.

That’s where commitment comes in.

In this week’s episode of The Reinvention Era, I’m breaking down the difference between being interested in something…. and actually committing to it.

We talk about:

• The hidden cost of staying “interested”
• What commitment really looks like (and why it’s never too late)
• Famous and everyday examples of people who chose to commit, even when it was hard
• My own stories of interest vs commitment (and the shifts I’ve made)
• Why commitment costs something…. but gives you back freedom

By the end of this episode, you’ll know exactly where you’re still dabbling in interest… and what it would look like to finally commit.

Because interest keeps you dreaming.

Commitment keeps you moving.

And reinvention only happens when you move.

Do let me know your shifts. DM me on Instagram or tag me in stories @the_reinventionera

Until next time,

Loads of Love,

Sarah x

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Transcript

Sarah Elizabeth  00:00

Hello, hello and welcome. Welcome back to the reinvention era podcast, and just before we get going on this week's episode, I just want to say for this week, I've got a 200 quid refund. And 189 pounds off my new glasses without even freaking trying so rich as fuck is working already, I am just saying, and we're not even halfway in yet. So if you too want to bring in the moolah and change the bullshit story is you have around money like that, there's never enough like that. There's a fixed ceiling on what we can earn. Amanda Frances has already covered that lie. Any crap you tell yourself about money you need this book. And for only a tenner, it could possibly be the best investment you could ever make. Hmm, and the back library of books is there for all members, so everything else is there as well to change your bloody life love, like confidence, like narcissism, like self worth. It's all in the back catalogue. And I know you think shit like I ain't got time to read Sare. I'm a busy Bitch, Don't you know? Well, yes, I know. But this is an extra bonus of the book club. I read through the key parts of each book in a chapter by chapter, private podcast that's super easy to set up, and I talk through my takes on it, and all with some extra coaching where I can so all you literally have to do is pop me in your earbuds on your commute, when you're cleaning the bath, when you're ordering tescos or in a boring Zoom meeting, whatever everything you need to know is in the show notes or at the-reinventionera.com there really is no excuse if you are committing to being rich as fuck and or changing your life and reinventing the best parts if you're committed,

Sarah Elizabeth  02:40

which kind of brings me on to this week's episode. And today I want to talk about something that sounds so simple, deceptively simple even. But will it change how you see your goals and your habits and your entire reinvention, actually? And that is the difference between being interested in something and being committed to it. Because the harsh truth is, being interested doesn't change your life. It doesn't being committed does. What do I mean by that? Well, being interested, honestly, is easy. It's exciting. It feels good in the moment. It's like buying a gorgeous, fancy planner in September. You know, you like go in the shop and you see this gorgeous pink and oh, it's got a matching pen as well. And oh, it's got, like, one of the nice little ribbons, and it's hard back and, oh, it's so pretty. And then you colour code it, and you put in all your bits and pieces, maybe even fill in the first week. And then by week two, it's buried. It's buried somewhere on your desk or under a pile of unopened post or somewhere. And that's what being interested looks like. It looks like saying I'd really love, love, love to write a book one day, but never actually blocking out 30 minutes to actually sit down and write the damn thing it looks like listening to podcasts, yes, even this month, you know, nodding along, saving the quotes, but never, ever actually changing anything in your day to day life, never putting any of it in place. That's. All what interest looks like. Interest keeps the dreams alive. It's safe. It gives you the hit of possibility, the dopamine hit of the dream, without the risk of failure. But the thing is, interest is a bit like a crush or one night stand. Commitment is more like a full on relationship, and you know, you can't build a life on crush energy. You know what I mean.

Sarah Elizabeth  05:32

But commitment is different to interest. Commitment says I've decided it says I'm all in. It's not Oh, I'll try. It's not Oh, yeah, maybe one day it's I'm in all in. Commitment is lacing up your trainers on a freezing cold Tuesday morning when you'd rather be under the duvet. Commitments, paying the deposit on the course or retreat or whatever, even when it scares the shit out of you, because you know future you will go, Oh my God, thank you. It's saying no to things that don't align, that don't fit in with your reinvention era, even when that's uncomfortable. And do you know what a common misconception is that motivation creates the commitment, and it doesn't. Motivation does not create commitment. Commitment creates the motivation. We've all been waiting for that magic moment of when I'll be ready, I'll feel ready. I'll know. I'll know when the time's right, because I'm just gonna feel ready, but it doesn't come. Never comes. The feeling follows the decision, not the other way round. We get the outcome from practising the damn thing, and it is practice. There's generally no fucking magic pill. There's no silver bullet for these hairy, scary goals. We've just got to practice doing the thing consistently to get there. So why do we hang out in interested for so long? Well, again, it's because it's safe. Commitment feels risky, doesn't it? It feels like exposure commitment means you might fucking fail, and your nervous system loves, loves, loves, a bit of interested, because it gets the dopamine hit of dreaming, but none of the vulnerability of actually doing the damn thing. Interest is like endless browsing and committed is clicking check out. I mean, I and for so many of us, the real fear, you know what? It isn't actually failing in itself. It's been seen trying. That's often the fear for so many of us, it's easier to stay in that fantasy of one day than to risk actually doing the thing and finding out it's super fucking hard. 

Sarah Elizabeth  08:46

So I've got some examples together to help this land a little bit right? So like Colonel Sanders, right? You know KFC guy, he was rejected over 1000 times when he was trying to pitch his fried chicken recipe to restaurants 1000 fucking times. Now, interest would have stopped at rejection number 10, if that. Commitment carried him until someone finally, finally said yes. And by the way, just to say he didn't even get anywhere with it until he was in his 60s, which is also proof that it's never too late to commit. Just saying, if you're starting with the problem, I'm too old, bullshit. And another one, whether you like her or not. JK Rowling, she was rejected by 12 publishers before Harry Potter was accepted. Now if she'd been merely interested in writing, she would have stopped at the first freaking No, but commitment kept her submitting. And now look at Harry Potter. Da or some of the old school examples, like Thomas Edison, when he was inventing the light bulb, he was said to have tested over 10,000 fucked up prototypes, and he famously said, I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. That's commitment, right there. That man knew what he freaking wanted, and thank God he did try and imagine life without the light bulb or another old school one Beethoven, he composed some of his most famous pieces whilst going bloody deaf. He could have been just interested in music, but that commitment meant he didn't stop, even when his greatest bloody asset, hearing is good I'm hearing, betrayed him.

Sarah Elizabeth  10:55

And you know what? Let's be a bit closer to him as well, because this isn't just about famous people in work, for example, right? When you're in work interest, sounds like, yeah, I really like to start business, you know, or you've come up with a zillion ideas to be the next Steven Bartlett or whatever. But then you sit and watch as someone else Nicks you brilliant fucking idea. It's brilliant. Oh, my God, could be on Dragon's Den anytime the commitment is registering the company, launching the thing, risking the fucking flop, or in money being interested. Sounds like, Yeah, I'd like to save or I wanna be rich as fuck, I wanna be. Commitment is automating that shit, learning about money, sticking with it, even when it feels tight, and changing your poxy money stories. Badass as fuck book club just saying, but that's the difference. Interest talks, being interested is just a chat commitment does the damn thing.

Sarah Elizabeth  12:12

And let me be honest, right? I've, I've had both sides. I've well and truly had both sides. There are many, many things I've stayed interested in for fucking years. I talk about and think about and maybe dabble in there. I did a full on business plan for one of my golden ideas, but I never committed. I've got a list of about 50 ideas on my phone for fiction books. I've written a bit of one, even with all those business ideas, I've had so many fucking ideas. Honestly, you asked my mates are like, literally so many. But guess what? Nothing fucking changed though, all those ideas, they're just gathering dust in some coronary brain somewhere, because I was just Yes, interested. It sounds good, feels good. The idea is great, but I didn't commit. But when I did commit, like when I launched this podcast, like when I built the book club, I made the decision, then I figured the rest of it out. It wasn't neat and tidy, it wasn't always easy. Fuck me. It's been bloody hard, and it's been many times I've bawled my eyes out and questioned whether I should give it all up for a much easier life and watch Netflix. But I committed anyway, and it moved.

Sarah Elizabeth  13:42

So take a second now just to ask yourself, What are you just interested in right now, and what are you actually committed to? Because the bit that we don't really like to admit is that commitment costs something. It costs a decision. It costs time, it costs energy, might even cost money, and it definitely, definitely costs fucking comfort, but, but it also gives you back momentum and clarity and self trust, you know what? Like, it actually helps you to really Goddamn trust yourself. And ultimately, I believe it gives you freedom. You know, commitment ain't sexy. It's not It's consistency in the times that nobody claps for, or these fucking people that go, oh, they were an overnight success. If they weren't a fucking overnight success, you didn't, didn't see their commitment. It's boring Tuesday energy. It's working nine to five, then working five to nine to build your business. I mean, I say five to nine more like fucking midnight. Mm. So it's keeping the promise to yourself, even when no one's watching, like I say, those overnight successes, all the success happened before anyone was fucking watching, and that that commitment is what builds reinvention, right? So think about what's at stake here. What like would happen if you just stuck with interested? I mean, for a start, you're just going to keep circling round and round. You'll keep buying the planners, saving the quotes, setting the goals, having the business ideas, whatever, and then wondering why another fucking years passed without anything changing, you end up making the same New Year's rezzies For seven fucking years on the trot and give up by February. Actually, that's another example from my life, right? I'd kept doing dry January. Every year I was doing dry January, right? Did I last until after the 20th of freaking January? Every year, did I fuck? Because as much as it sounded great to have a hangover free life, I was really just a bit interested in it sounded good. But in 2023 I committed to doing the whole of January, and once I committed to that, I then ended up committing to February, then march. And from that commitment, well, in a couple of weeks, it's going to be 1000 days, zero alcohol, 1000 days because I committed. That's what happens when you commit. So if you can commit over just being interested, then then you start to build momentum. It might be imperfect, it might be shit. You wobble, for sure, you fucking wobble, let me tell you, but you keep moving forward anyway, and that kind of forward motion, even when it's messy and a bit fucked up, that will take you so much further than I'm interested ever bloody could. So the question is, where in your life are you still just interested, and where are you committed?

Sarah Elizabeth  17:26

And that all starts with making a decision. Don't just think about what you want. Think about what you're actually willing to choose. What can you decide to commit to where in your life are you choosing to be interested, and where can you be ready to choose, decide to commit because, like we've said, interest is easy, it's safe, it's always predictable. It feels good to say, I'd love to do that someday, but just interested doesn't hold it when it's six o'clock on the winter's morning and your alarms going mental. and your car needs defrosting. Interest doesn't hold it when you've had a row with your partner and you just want to numb out with Netflix and a bottle of wine. Interest doesn't hold it when someone tells you no the first time you fucking try. And that's where most women will bail out and quit, and not because they didn't care, or even that they didn't want it, but because they only ever stayed just interested. Commitments, different commitment says, I've decided I'm fucking doing this, even if it's messy, even if it's slow, even if I wobble,even if someone says no commitment is where you still show up and show up and show up again after All, that shiny, sexy energy wears off. It's the unglamorous. Nobody's watching version of reinvention that shit ain't the sexy stuff. It's not. And you know what as well. Just to say commitment really doesn't have to mean some massive life altering change overnight. It might be as simple as like just deciding you're going for a walk around the block every day this week, even if it rains, or committing to writing 15 minutes a day, even if it's crap, instead of waiting until you feel inspired

Sarah Elizabeth  19:40

or it might be choosing to actually use the bloody boundaries you've been journaling about and reading about instead of keeping them theoretical and on paper. Or maybe it's actually getting your money stories out so you can see the patterns you're stuck in and why you're piss poor rather than rich as fuck, then using them to decide to. Change shit. The truth is, the size of the action doesn't matter. It's really not important. What matters far more is the weight of the decision. When you decide, when you commit, something shifts inside of you. You stop with the one day crap, and you start actually living today. So don't just think about what you want. Don't just dream it. In the words of Walt Disney, if you can dream it, you can do it. Think about what you're actually willing to choose. What can you decide to commit to this week, not because it's shiny and sexy, not because it's easy, but because you've done bullshitting around interested. Commitment will keep you moving, and reinvention will only happen when you move. 

Sarah Elizabeth  20:57

So before you click out of this episode and get back into your day and interested. I want you to actually sit with this. Don't just let it just wash over you and forget about it. Commit to it. Ask yourself be brutally honest, where in your life have you been hanging on to interested energy, saying I want it, but never deciding to get it, to do it. And what's the real cost to you of staying interested if you keep dabbling and delaying and half promising yourself? And what's one thing you are willing to commit to this week? Not someday now, not wait until Monday, not wait until October, not next year. Now, and if those questions land with you, I've also got something that will type you a bit deeper as well. It's one of my freebies to help your reinvention. It's 11 disruptive questions that pull you out of beige and back to badass as fuck, from interested to committed. Basically, they're designed exactly to crack you open a little bit more so you can stop with the bullshit and actually see what you're ready to commit to. Because remember, interest is safe. Commitment is where reinvention happens. Everything you need to know is in the show notes. All the freebies. This is free. All the freebies are in there. Book Club's in there. Everything's in the show notes, even if you only commit to one of these bloody questions, love, please commit. So that's all for this week. If you are brave enough to share what one thing you've committed to this week you've decided to do, then do please share on Instagram and tag me at the_reinvention era. Totes here for as much badass as fuck as we can muster. So let's do it. Let's decide to just fucking do it. I will be back in your beauts ear buds again next week for more of our reinvention era. Loads of love. Bye.