"Stop trying to be interesting. Be interested"
About this Quote
The intent is practical. Entrepreneurs live and die by information: what customers actually do, where margins hide, which boring industry is quietly printing money. Trying to be interesting makes you broadcast. Being interested makes you listen. That shift changes outcomes: you ask better questions, you notice unglamorous details, you build relationships that aren’t transactional from the first sentence.
There’s subtext, too: "interesting" is often code for status-seeking. It’s the LinkedIn version of charisma, optimized for applause rather than understanding. Sanchez’s framing punctures that. Curiosity becomes the more scalable flex, because it doesn’t depend on being the loudest person in the room; it depends on being the most present. Ironically, that’s also how people become genuinely compelling. We’re drawn to those who make us feel observed rather than outshouted.
The context is late-stage attention culture, where identity is treated like a content pipeline. Sanchez’s quote works because it offers a simple swap: drop the exhausting project of self-invention and adopt a stance that produces both social and financial returns. Interest, here, isn’t softness; it’s strategy.
Quote Details
| Topic | Self-Improvement |
|---|---|
| Source | Contrarian Thinking (Codie Sanchez) , social post / newsletter advice (2020s) |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Sanchez, Codie. (2026, January 13). Stop trying to be interesting. Be interested. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/stop-trying-to-be-interesting-be-interested-184020/
Chicago Style
Sanchez, Codie. "Stop trying to be interesting. Be interested." FixQuotes. January 13, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/stop-trying-to-be-interesting-be-interested-184020/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Stop trying to be interesting. Be interested." FixQuotes, 13 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/stop-trying-to-be-interesting-be-interested-184020/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.










