Episode 51Mar 23, 2026· 7:39

Stop Waiting to Feel Motivated: Why Action Comes First

▸ Show notes from the creator

If you've been waiting to feel motivated before you start working out, you might be waiting forever. Yoga teacher, podcast producer, and psychology-backed wellness expert Jamie Brooke breaks down why motivation is actually the result of taking action, not the starting point, and what that means for anyone who keeps pushing their workout to "next Monday." In this episode, Jamie shares the science-backed concept from Atomic Habits that flips the motivation myth on its head, a real-life example of a retired, kid-free woman who still can't seem to get to the gym, and the one question you should ask yourself instead of "do I feel like it today?" Host Ashley Grant also gets real about how waiting for motivation would have kept her stuck as the girl who couldn't make it through 15 minutes of Zumba. If you've ever talked yourself out of a workout before you even started, this episode is for you. This podcast is for entertainment purposes only and is not medical advice. Please consult a healthcare professional before starting any diet or exercise program. Be sure to follow me online, and click here to be featured on the show: https://famousashleygrant.com/fitness/ Follow Jamie online: https://www.bravemoonpodcasts.com/ and follow her on LinkedIn too: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamiebrookekennedy/ --------------------------------------- This podcast is supported by affiliate partnerships. Please check out a few of our partners below: – Check out my Amazon Storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/theashleygrant?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_aipsfshop_4EEZX1HN7ZCWEBZ33TK3 – Start a podcast today here: https://rss.com/?via=moremovementplease – Create content from your own voice with Castmagic's Suite of AI Tools: https://get.castmagic.io/dcjy15cirnts – Want to help support our show? Buy a girl a drink perhaps? https://ko-fi.com/famousashleygrant – Need content for your podcast or blog? Check out Tools for Motivation! The links above are affiliate links. This means my podcast will receive a small commission if you order through any of them at no additional cost to you. Affiliate commissions are one of the ways my podcast makes money so that I can create episodes free of charge. If you do purchase anything from my links, I sincerely would like to thank you for your support!

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About this episode

This episode features a voice note from Jamie Brooke — podcast producer, yoga teacher, psychology background — on the motivation-versus-action problem in fitness and exercise habits. Jamie argues that motivation almost never precedes action, referencing Atomic Habits, and that waiting for the right feeling erodes self-trust over time. She illustrates this with a retired friend who used to swim and walk regularly but…

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Who this episode is for

This episode may resonate with you if:

You keep telling yourself you'll start working out when you feel ready — when you have more energy, when it stops raining, when things slow down — and that moment never seems to come.

You used to be active and movement felt natural, but somewhere along the way you fell out of the habit and now you can't seem to find your way back in — even though your circumstances have changed and you technically have more time.

You've promised yourself so many times that you'd start, and you didn't, and now you're not sure you trust yourself to follow through anymore.

You're someone who has been overweight or out of shape and knows what it feels like to be unable to do basic physical things — and you're looking for a reason to believe something small could actually change that.

You intellectually know you should move more but keep finding perfectly reasonable-sounding excuses — errands, projects, social plans — and part of you suspects the excuses will never run out.

What you’ll learn

Stop waiting to feel motivated — take the action first and motivation follows

Recognize that excuses persist regardless of how much free time you have

Replace 'do I feel motivated today?' with 'what is the smallest action I can take right now?'

Questions this episode wrestles with

Why do I keep saying I'll start Monday and never do?

answered

Jamie says the brain is very good at generating excuses when motivation isn't there yet, and the longer you wait, the harder it gets — because you start to not even trust yourself after repeatedly not following through.

"definitely don't have time today. And the longer we wait for motivation to appear, the harder it becomes to start. Because we start to not even trust ourselves. We start to give up faith in what we're capable of doing. Because we said we were going to do it, and we didn't. Why would today be any different than yesterday? But something"

Is waiting to feel ready just another way of avoiding it?

answered

Jamie frames it as a misconception — we think we need to feel motivated first, but motivation almost never shows up before the action; the waiting itself is the trap.

"One of the biggest misconceptions we have around health and fitness is that motivation comes before action. We think that we need to feel motivated first. We tell ourselves, when I feel motivated,"

Why can't I make myself exercise even when I have the time?

open question

Jamie sits with this through the story of her retired friend — no job, no kids at home, and still not exercising — and names it as an uncomfortable truth without fully resolving what the excuses are really about.

"think when you're retired, kids are out of the house. You don't have a full -time job anymore. How could you come up with an excuse for why you can't work out? But here's a perfect example of someone who did just retire, who doesn't have a full house full of kids running around, who doesn't have a full -time job that takes up. 40 hours of her week, and yet she's still finding"

Does motivation ever just show up on its own?

answered

Jamie says motivation almost never shows up first — it's the result of doing the thing, not a prerequisite for it.

"Motivation is the result of doing the thing. So instead of asking yourself, do I feel motivated today? A better question is, what is the smallest action I can take right now? Maybe it's a 10"

What if I never feel like working out — does that mean something is wrong with me?

answered

Ashley speaks from her own experience — if she had waited to feel motivated, she says she would still be the overweight girl who couldn't take a flight of stairs or get through 15 minutes of Zumba. The feeling not being there first is normal, not a personal failing.

"for motivation to be the thing that finally made me start working out, finally made me start doing the work that needed to be done to get my butt in shape, I would still be the overweight girl that couldn't take a flight of stairs, that couldn't do a plank, that couldn't do a jumping jack, that couldn't get through 15 minutes of Zumba."

Setting expectations: This episode is not a structured guide to building workout habits or a deep dive into the psychology of motivation. It's a short voice note from yoga teacher and podcast producer Jamie Brooke, followed by Ashley's personal reflection on how waiting for motivation kept her from being able to climb a flight of stairs or get through 15 minutes of Zumba.

Tone & style

The episode starts from the common belief that you need to feel motivated before you can start moving. Jamie's voice note reframes this as a misconception, and Ashley closes by acknowledging she would still be the woman who couldn't climb a flight of stairs or get through 15 minutes of Zumba if she had kept waiting for motivation to show up first.

Lived experience and opinion, with a paraphrased concept from Atomic Habits. Not research-backed claims.

toneWarm & encouraging

focusJamie Brooke argues — and Ashley confirms from her own experience — that waiting to feel motivated before exercising is the thing keeping you stuck, because motivation follows action, not the other way around.

stylepersonal_confession

energymedium

complexitybeginner

pressure Levellow

emotional Textureencouraging, relatable, lightly personal

Notable quotes

"But the truth is, motivation almost never shows up first. There's a concept from the book Atomic Habits that completely reframes this. The idea is that action actually creates motivation, not the other way around. In other words, you don't"

— Famous Ashley Grant

"definitely don't have time today. And the longer we wait for motivation to appear, the harder it becomes to start. Because we start to not even trust ourselves. We start to give up faith in what we're capable of doing. Because we said we were going to do it, and we didn't. Why would"

— Famous Ashley Grant

"think when you're retired, kids are out of the house. You don't have a full -time job anymore. How could you come up with an excuse for why you can't work out? But here's a perfect example"

— Famous Ashley Grant

Episode transcript

5 chapters — tap to expand the full text

Jamie argues that waiting to feel motivated before exercising is a misconception, referencing Atomic Habits to make the case that action creates motivation — not the other way around — and that waiting erodes self-trust.