by Oli Anderson, Transformational Coach for Realness
Are You ‘Dabbling’ or are You REAL?
Having an ‘interest’ in something is pretty easy because it’s fleeting, surface-level, and effortless – maybe you watch a documentary, pick up a book, attend a lecture, and think to yourself, “Dang, this is interesting. I should explore it more someday.”
But then…you don’t (or if you do it’s a firework that soon runs out of energy after the initial ‘bang’).
Here’s the thing: ‘interest’ alone isn’t going to take you anywhere meaningful. It won’t change your life, build your dreams, or get you through the inevitable twists and turns that any transformational journey asks you to navigate. It might get you started but it’s never enough to get all the way to where you want to be going.
If you want to do something worthwhile – something that matters to you deeply because it’s REAL – you need more than interest:
You need commitment.
Commitment is what separates those who just talk about doing something from those who actually live it, breathe it, and see it through to the end. It’s the difference between merely ‘dabbling’ in something versus allowing it to become a true ‘part’ of who you are.
The bottom line is that interest fades at the first sign of resistance because it really only belongs to the level of beliefs and ego; commitment digs its heels in and keeps going, even when the path gets rocky, because it’s built on an ACCEPTANCE of what’s true about you in your REALNESS.
So how do you move from being merely interested in something to being truly committed?
Why does it even matter?
This article will help you to understand and to go deeper:
Interest vs Commitment: A Matter of Depth
Let’s start with what sets interest and commitment apart:
Interest is passive; curious but non-committal. It’s an enjoyable thought experiment, nothing much more than a “wouldn’t it be nice if…” moment that we might indulge in here-and-there.
Commitment, on the other hand, is ACTIVE (and everything is about ACTION when it comes to changing your life – after you’ve raised AWARENESS and cultivated ACCEPTANCE, of course).
It’s a decision to invest the WHOLE of yourself – instead of just the fragments of ego and its comfort zone – to something, even when it’s inconvenient or challenging. When you’re committed, you don’t just think about your goals; you pursue them relentlessly because you know that you don’t really have a CHOICE (not if you want to be real to yourself anyway).
Commitment means that you SHOW UP as the person that you want to be even when it’s hard, boring, or downright unpleasant because you’re driven by something deeper than the surface-level curiosity that interest offers.
Real commitment also requires you to put your values into action because it’s fuelled not just by a clear vision of what you want but also WHY you want it:
As Nietzsche famously said, “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how”.
When you understand the values and purpose underpinning your goals, you develop the resilience to navigate setbacks, detours, and disappointments along the way and this resilience opens a positive spiral of making you more-and-more committed.

Values, Vision, and Drive: The Foundations of Commitment
At the heart of REAL commitment are three essential components: Values, Vision, and Drive.
Without these, commitment becomes hollow, a house built on shaky foundations because it belongs to the Ego and not your REALNESS.
When you align these elements, you create a powerful force that pulls you forward and sustains you through the challenges of real growth.
1. Values: Knowing What Matters Most
Your values are qualities that make your life seem meaningful or significant that guide your decisions and define what matters most to you.
Normally, these values can be encapsulated in single words like ‘Truth’, ‘Freedom’, ‘Humour’, or ‘Sincerity’ (etc. – there are an almost infinite amount of ‘Values’ – there’s a list from my book Personal Revolutions: A Short Course in Realness which you can access here. If you want to go even deeper, check out my free 7-Day Course which is designed to help you figure your values out and turn them into action: The Personality Transplant).
Your values can be translated into real GOALS – not the superficial goals society says you should chase, but the deeply personal ambitions that resonate with who you are at your core:
For example, let’s say you’re interested in starting a business. If your interest is driven by a superficial desire – like merely wanting to look successful on social media in an attempt to fill the Void and appease your ego – it’s unlikely to last when the reality of hard work and uncertainty sets in.
But if your desire stems from a deeper value, like freedom, creativity, or contributing something meaningful to the world, you’ll have a far stronger foundation to keep going and so the fire of your commitment will keep burning bright.
When you root your actions in your core values, you’re no longer chasing empty achievements and running on the spot; you’re living in alignment with your realness and making moves, which makes commitment feel natural and sustainable as you build momentum.
2. Vision: Seeing the Bigger Picture
We can also go deeper into commitment with a compelling vision – a clear sense of where you’re headed and why it matters. Like we said above, this vision isn’t just about the what of your goals; it’s also about the why.
For example, do you want more money so you can hoard it in a bank account or do you want financial freedom to spend your time on things that truly matter to you? Do you want to learn a skill because it sounds impressive or because it aligns with your deepest passions and purpose and will allow you to express who you REALL are?
When you clarify your vision and connect it to your values, you transform your goals from abstract ideas into something real and tangibl – you create a guiding light that keeps you focused, even when the journey gets tough.
Knowing your vision and keeping it in mind at all times is one of the ways to keep building FLOW because whatever life throws at you can be navigated in the context of where you’re headed. This makes you more resilient but it also allows you to find more peace because nothing can shake you from yourself and stop you learning and evolving.
3. Drive: Bridging the Gap Between Present and Future
The final piece of the puzzle is drive – the passion and energy that come from recognising where you are now in relation to where you want to be. The awareness of this GAP creates a powerful creative tension that propels you forward, turning your values and vision into action.
It also energises you to use the present to move into the future from moment-to-moment and heightens your relationship with life as a whole. This in turn increases commitment as you experience your own power and live life as it’s meant to be lived: in motion as you move towards a deeper sense of wholeness.
Drive isn’t about external pressure or motivation from others; it’s about tapping into your inner fire – t’s the force that keeps you moving when interest would have long since given up.
The Price of Commitment: Facing Resistance
The thing that people struggle with about commitment is that it’s not glamorous – it doesn’t come with instant gratification or a guarantee of success. In fact, true commitment often involves sacrifice, discomfort, and uncertainty – which means that it asks us to TRUST (ourselves and life).
At the same time, this is also why it’s so transformative:
When you commit to something real, you’re not just chasing outcomes or ticking boxes; you’re shaping yourself in the process. You’re becoming the kind of person who follows through, who grows through challenges, and who lives with purpose. You’re becoming less fragmented and more WHOLE.
The good news is that even if the outcome doesn’t turn out as you hoped, the journey itself will still be worth it (as cheesy and as cliched as that might sound – it’s true). Why? Because commitment is about more than achieving a specific result. It’s about living in alignment with your values, building resilience, and growing into your REALNESS.
At the end of the day, that’s the only thing really worth being committed to…
Living from the Inside Out
One of the biggest mistakes people make is living from the outside in:
They let external factors – trends, societal expectations, or other people’s opinions, etc. – dictate their choices. This just causes them to chase superficial goals that don’t even align with their realness and then wonder why they feel unfulfilled (living those “lives of quiet desperation”).
Commitment flips the script:
It’s about living from the inside out – rooting your actions in your own REAL values and purpose, rather than chasing after what’s shiny, new, or popular. When you live this way, you’re no longer pulled in a million different directions by fleeting interests because you’re able to transcend your own duality.
Instead of your goals being an extension of a fragmented relationship with yourself that could pull you all over the place, they become an extension of what’s already real within you: something whole.
This is why commitment feels so powerful: it connects you to your inner truth and helps you create a life that’s authentic and meaningful.

How to Move from Interest to Commitment
Here are some practical steps to help you make the leap from being interested in something to being truly committed:
- Clarify Your Values
Spend some time reflecting on what matters most to you. What are the principles and beliefs that guide your life? Write them down and use them as a compass for your decisions.
My free 7-Day Course will really get you started with this and has a workbook with values elicitation exercises. - Define Your Vision
Think about what you want to achieve and why it matters. What’s the deeper purpose behind your goals? How do they align with your values?
Again, my free 7-Day Course will really take you deep into this. - Start Small, But Be Consistent
Commitment doesn’t happen overnight – start by taking small, consistent actions towards your goals. Over time, these actions will build momentum and deepen your commitment. Moving between where you are now and where you want to be is a PROCESS – if you stay committed to that process, you will get results. - Embrace Discomfort
Growth requires stepping outside your comfort zone – be willing to face resistance, uncertainty, and setbacks along the way but remember that what’s real is always real so the only thing you’ll risk losing in these periods are your illusions. - Focus on the Process, Not Just the Outcome
Remember that commitment is about more than achieving a specific result – it’s about living in alignment with your values and becoming the person you want to be. Of course, the more committed you are, the more likely you are to get the specific results you want (but even if you don’t growing REAL in the process is the ultimate rewared and the only thing worth truly committing to).
The Real Difference Commitment Makes
When you commit to something real – something that aligns with your values, vision, and drive – you unlock a level of focus, energy, and resilience that interest alone can never provide; you stop living on the surface and start digging into the deeper layers of who you are and what you’re capable of.
Next time you feel tempted to dabble in something, ask yourself:
Am I interested or am I committed?
If it’s REAL, it’s worth pursuing, and it’s worth committing to fully. Find something real and pour yourself into it.
The rewards – both internal and external – will be greater than anything interest alone could ever offer.
Stay real out there,

*Based on ‘Revolution’ number twenty in Personal Revolutions: A Short Course in Realness