How to Start Your Fitness Journey with Zero Motivation
After 10 years in the fitness industry, I’ve heard it all:
“I just don’t have the motivation to start.”
The truth is if you’re waiting for motivation to show up, stop.
Motivation isn’t the spark. Action is. And action doesn’t have to be big to matter.
The key to starting your fitness journey even with zero motivation is to break it down into small, achievable tasks.
Think:
The first kg in your weight loss journey
The first km in your marathon training
The first rep in your strength program
These small actions might not feel like much, but even a small win can create momentum that turns into motivation. Along with consistency it builds into something more powerful, discipline.
A client came to me with a goal to lose 10kg more than 10% of his body weight, which is a significant amount. We agreed to achieve this in 12 weeks, and broke the goal down into monthly, weekly, and daily targets:
Monthly: Lose 3-4 kg
Weekly: 4 training sessions, 3 cardio sessions
Daily: 12,000 steps, 8 hours of sleep
Breaking the goal down into smaller, actionable steps helped him stay focused and motivated throughout the 12 weeks. Having clear targets to work toward made the process mentally easier as well, because he could visualize the progress and the end result.
Motivation is inconsistent, some days you're geed up. Other days you're tired, stressed, and cbf. If your fitness plan depends on you being motivated every day, it’s going to fall apart the moment life gets hard and life is always hard.
One of the biggest shifts in my mindset came from reading Atomic Habits by James Clear a book I started while doing the 75 Hard challenge, a mental toughness challenge created by Andy Frisella.
For 75 days, I had to:
Follow a strict nutrition plan (no alcohol, no cheat meals)
Complete two 45-minute workouts daily — one had to be outdoors
Drink 1 gallon of water
Read 10 pages of a personal development book
Take a daily progress photo
Is it sustainable? No. But that’s the whole point. The point is learning how to build systems. Systems that help you show up effortlessly.
“You don’t rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” James Clear
During my marathon training, there were days when I had to do ‘double days’ weights and a run in the same day. After working with clients all morning, I often felt exhausted and wanted to go home and rest. But then I struggled to get back to the gym later for my session, sometimes missing it entirely or having to catch up later in the week.
The people who succeed with their goals aren’t depending on a consistent motivation. They’re setting systems in place so they can almost be on auto pilot and work towards their goals regardless of how they feel.
One of the things you can control isn’t just the gym, it’s your environment. Redesign your environment to remove friction and encourage consistency, the saying goes:
If you hang out with 5 smokers you will be the 6th. Who you spend your time with where you spend your time have a powerful impact on who you are.
When I was young, most of the things I started weren’t because I enjoyed them, but because my older cousins were doing them, and I wanted to be just like them. This shaped my hobbies and interests early on in life, and while I picked up some good habits, I also adopted a few bad ones.
Identity beats intensity, and we are just a product of our environment. So when we reduce the ability to make the wrong decision making the right decision becomes easier.
Eventually, you’ll become the person who doesn’t wait to feel motivated you’ll be the person who keeps showing up regardless.
If you’ve been stuck waiting to feel ready, this is your sign to start anyway.
Start messy. Start tired. Start unmotivated.
Just start. Because:
Action leads, motivation follows and discipline sustains.
