EP101 She’s Not 53. She’s Version 5.3: Reinvention Just Got Upgraded

What if you stopped dreading your birthday… and started f*cking launching it instead?

In this episode, I’m turning 53… but don’t get it twisted. 

This isn’t some soft-focus, motivational take on aging. This is Version 5.3. Upgraded. Debugged. Unapologetic.

Because reinvention does NOT mean becoming someone else.

It means stripping off the labels you never asked for in the first place, and finally choosing the version of you that’s been buried under the “good girl” script for freaking decades.

You’ll hear…

🧠 A no-BS reframe that’ll have you owning your age like an iPhone update
🔥 Why most “breakdowns” are really build-ups to your next version
💥 How to spot the quiet signs you’re already in reinvention, even if it feels messy
🧸 What Build-a-Bear, Hula Hoops Puft, and Jamie Oliver’s parents have to do with your identity
📣 And how to know when your next version is knocking (spoiler alert: it’s usually when your throat tightens and your stomach flips)

Whether you’re 37, 47, or staring down your own 5.3 moment, this is your invitation to stop shrinking and start leading like the woman you actually are.

Do let me know how this landed for you 💝

🎧 Listen in.
💬 Tag a fellow badass in mid-reboot.

✨ And to celebrate this new era?

The Badass AF Book Club is open and launching with a bang….

💥 53% off your first month (until 08/08/2025)
🎉 Use code BADASSAF53 at checkout
📚 We start TODAY with You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero

⬇️

📚 JOIN The Badass AF Book Club

🔥 DOWNLOAD FREEBIES TO FUEL YOUR REINVENTION

📲 FOLLOW on Instagram and Facebook

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Transcript

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Reinvention, ageing better, personal growth, version update, self-worth, identity coach, badass book club, iPhone analogy, self-discovery, performance, self-acceptance, personal branding, life expansion, empowerment, community support.

Sarah Elizabeth  00:00

Hola, and welcome back to the reinvention era podcast with me, Sarah Elizabeth. And this is where we do our own version of turning marathons into Snickers or Opal Fruits into Starburst or even now the hula hoops into hula hoops, puft, Puft. Or am I just late to the party? I saw this advert on the train last week because, you know, I can't drive anywhere because of me, bloody arm. But anyhow, I saw this advert for these hula hoops puft. And I just thought it's hula hoops being reinvented. Go hula hoops. Hula Hoops. You know, sometimes you might want to OG hula hoops. Sometimes you might want a puffy one who knew, this is not an ad, by the way, I've not been sponsored by hula hoops now, although I did say also talking hula hoops on masterchef Australia, Jamie Oliver's parents set this Mystery Box Challenge, if you know, you know, and they included salt and vinegar hula hoops in it. So maybe it's, maybe it's a in thing. Maybe I do need to get sponsored by hula hoops. But anyway, I've completely digressed. The point is, there's been a shit tonne of brands, particularly chocolate and sweets, for some weird reason, but anyway, but general brands that have reinvented themselves, they've taken the OG version and sprinkled metaphorical glitter on it, and that's what We're doing here in our reinvention era, and this week, I want to talk about how reinvention gets better with age. Yep, you heard me. It gets better with age. 

Sarah Elizabeth  01:58

We've been told for years that it's men that get better with age, like George Clooney, for example, you know, and us women are put out to fucking pasture after menopause. Aren't we? well fuck that narrative. I say fuck it. We'd reinventing that as well over here. So here's the thing, and what led to this somewhat bizarre start to this week's episode? This Sunday, I turn 53 Yes, I do. And not long ago, I probably would have downplayed it a bit or compared myself to be a mother at 53 I do think, actually, though, as a side note, this generation is generally ageing so much better than our parents generation and grandparents generation, aren't we? Did you know The Golden Girls were in their 40s and 50s? What the actual fuck? The Golden Girls . Again? If you know, you know, but compare the Golden Girls to Like the Sex and the City girls, just saying. But anyway, back back, back to the topic. The point is, I would have probably been derogatory about my own goddamn birthday, like made a little self deprecating joke about it, or said something about, I can't believe I'm that age, or, you know, the things we're trained, conditioned, programmed to say about ageing when we're women. But recently, I saw this post on Instagram that flipped something in me completely changed my outlook on it on Ageing, it said something like, and I can't remember the exact wording, but it was along the lines of, what if we treated our age, our birthdays, like iPhone updates? You know, you think like an iPhone version 16, or whatever we're up to now is a zillion times better than an iPhone seven. Each version of it, just like software updates as well, just gets better and better. So what if we treated our age in the same way as in, not something to dread, but something to launch, something exciting? And when I saw it, I swear I sat there with my mouth open speechless, which doesn't happen often. There we go. But I loved it, because that's exactly how I feel. I'm not just turning 53 nah, I'm stepping into version 5.3 of myself. I. Doesn't version 5.3 sounds so much better than 5.1 or 4.2 or even 3.6 version 5.3 sounds fucking brilliant compared to version 3.6 who knew just that simple shift of saying version 5.3 gives me a whole fucking new slant on my birthday, and you know what as well, version 5.3 doesn't play No. She fucking doesn't. She does not shrink to make people feel comfortable. She does not say yes out of guilt. She does not make her life smaller so that other people don't feel so freaking insecure. Version 5.3 is fully downloaded, debugged and unapologetically in service to our own fucking happiness, even with a broken arm. 

Sarah Elizabeth  06:08

So I want to go a bit more into that and talk a bit more about that, because I do think so many women in my life, in my community, in this reinvention era, space, so many of us are waking up to the same truth that reinvention isn't about becoming someone else. It's not looking at a brand new model and chucking away the old one. It's about stripping away the layers you were never meant to carry in the first place. And finding that glitter ball version of you that's in there, she's in there. She is. I think back to earlier versions of me. Maybe I don't know, Sarah, 3.4 maybe even 4.2 whoever. There's no shame in her. She was doing what she thought she had to. That's a bit weird talking about myself in the past tense and third person, but you know what I mean? She was doing what she had to, adapting, holding it all together, performing like she was going for a fucking BAFTA. She that version of Sarah, she wore the fucking labels like bloody medals, good girl, strong woman, solid wife, selfless mum, team player, but none of it, none of it was wholly her, me, whatever. But honestly, that version of me was fucking exhausted, not because it wasn't capable, but because that version of me wasn't allowed to be fully herself. That version of me didn't even know that was a fucking option, that you were allowed to be yourself forever, wearing some kind of mask. And you know, maybe this is resonating with you as well. Maybe you're in a season where you're ticking the boxes, you're getting the praise, yeah, holding the schedule together like a goddamn girl boss. But underneath it all, there's a quiet voice going, is this it? And that voice is not weakness. That's your next version, knocking saying, Hello, have you forgotten me? I've worked with so many women who come to me in the middle of what they think is a breakdown, and they say things like, I don't know who I am anymore. I feel invisible. I've lost myself. But you know what? I've come to realise it's not a breakdown, it's a build up. It's the moment right before the update kicks in, right before you stop trying to make your old life fit a new version of you. Because reinvention doesn't always come softly. It can come with grief, with with anger, with the realisation you've spent years and years living according to someone else's idea of who you're supposed to be. But when you finally let go of the performance, when you stop trying to be palatable, perfect, polished. That's when the update finally downloads. That's when you stop tweaking little things and start rewriting the goddamn code.

Sarah Elizabeth  09:54

And that's when we can start to see ageing as it. Expansion, not bloody expiration. We're not dead over here. We're not done here. Like I said, this is wild narrative in society, isn't there that after a certain age, we're supposed to what, shrink, fade into the background, stick to beige, and learn to be grateful. Thank you. Thank you for letting me breathe in your space. Fuck that. No. Fuck that. Not in version 5.3 version 5.3 is where the edge is sharpening up, where the softness and Sass go deep together. It's where the clarity arrives. It's not a decline, it's an expansion. Because when you finally, finally stop outsourcing your self worth. I've worked it out, you get to choose again, your vision, your purpose, your pace, your standards, your boundaries, your fucking energy, and that's when you become magnetic, not because you're on stage in epoxy costume on show, but because you're rooted in who the hell you are. And actually, when we're talking reinvention, that can look really, really different for each and every one of us as well. 

Sarah Elizabeth  11:32

You know, this might sound a bit random, but hear me out. I was thinking it's a bit like the old Build A Bear places. If you've never been there, it's like this magical little factory of chaos where kids pick a plain old teddy bear and then dress it up in whatever the hell they want. There's sparkly shoes, there's football kits, there's tiaras, there's dance costumes, there's motorbike jackets, there's rugby kits, you name it. You can put it on a bloody bear, and the kids choose everything, what it wears, what sound it makes, even what goes inside its blinking chest. And you know what reinvention is exactly the same. We spend so long being handed a version of ourselves, one that fits into all the right roles, meets all the expectations, ticks all the damn boxes, but it's just kind of almost like an undressed teddy bear. Reinvention is like about saying, I'm picking the pieces this time. I'm building me on purpose, your bear, your choices, your voice inside, your version. So let me ask you this, what version are you in right now? Are you still stuck in version 2.7 you know, like the one who keeps the piece at all costs. Are you in version 4.0 the one who's done everything right, but feels nothing, zero, nada? Or maybe, maybe you're right on the edge of version 5.0 the one who's ready to choose herself fully. There's no wrong answer. Every version of you has been doing her damn best. But if you're listening to this feeling a bit seen, if your heart's pounding, your throat feels a bit tight, and you've got that weird feeling in your tummy that you're not quite sure if it's excitement or if you've eaten something dodgy, if that sparks something for you as well, then you know you're ready for an upgrade, love. 

Sarah Elizabeth  13:56

So let this be your permission slip. Stop shrinking, stop hiding, permission to take the fucking masks off, to stop waiting for the perfect time to finally fucking feel like you You don't have to burn your life down. You just have to build back with intention, and if you need a space to start doing that, well, you already know what I'm going to say. The badass AF book club is open, and we're kicking off a new book that's all about remembering who the hell you are, the badass version that's in there. And we start today, or at least the day this episode drops, the first of August, and we're doing you are a badass by Jen Sincero. This is one of the OG badass books that will guaranteed will change your life. That will upgrade you, if you choose to let it and to celebrate my 53rd birthday, or should I say, My version 5.3 launch. You can get 53% off your first month with the code badass af 53 and that's only for one more weeks of getting quick love. We've got a private chapter by chapter podcast, deep dive, extra coaching, a squad of powerhouse women who are done performing fine. I'm fine. No makeup needed either. It's one of the few book clubs where you can wear your PJs and turn up when the fuck you like. We're not starting over. We're updating and look version. Insert whatever your number, age, your version is about to be your best one yet. So the link is in the show notes to join us. You know what to do. And so that's it for today. I'm Sarah Elizabeth identity reinvention coach ranked queen and your favourite loving bitch slap in human form, who is entering her new era of version 5.3 and I can't bloody wait. So if this episode landed, share it with your fellow 4.7 or 4.9 or whatever we're about to upgrade and all and remember your next version isn't waiting for permission. She's just waiting for you to listen and let that badass run freaking free. So I will be back in your beautiful badass earbuds again next week, enjoy your week. I will be having version 5.3 celebrations. Say to that, cheers, loads of love. Bye.