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April 16, 2025 14 mins

If you've ever said, "I just need to get motivated," this episode is for you. The truth is, motivation doesn't show up first—it follows action. In today’s episode, I’m breaking down the common belief that you need to feel motivated in order to start making healthy choices.

I’ll walk you through why waiting for motivation is keeping you stuck and what you can do instead to build real momentum in your health journey. You’ll learn how to take those first small steps—even when you don’t feel like it—and why that’s exactly what gets the motivation flowing.

Whether you want to eat better, get moving again, or just stop starting over every Monday, this episode will help you shift the way you think about action, motivation, and the habits that lead to lasting change.\

What You’ll Learn:

  • Why motivation isn't the spark—it’s the result
  • The mindset shift that gets you moving even when you’re “not feeling it”
  • What to do on the days when you’d rather scroll or snack
  • Why starting small matters more than feeling inspired
  • The real reason you're not taking action (and how to fix it)

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Lisa (00:00):
This is the Eat Well Think Well Live Well podcast.

(00:02):
I am Lisa Salisbury and this isepisode 143.
How to Stop Waiting forMotivation.
Welcome to eat well.
Well, the podcast for busy womenwho want to lose weight without
constantly counting, tracking,or stressing over every bite.
I'm Lisa Salsbury, a certifiedhealth weight loss and life

(00:23):
coach, and most importantly, arecovered chronic dieter here.
You'll learn to listen to yourbody and uncover the reasons
you're reaching for food.
When you're not truly hungry,freeing you to focus on a
healthier, more fulfillingapproach to eating.
Okay, friends, today we aregoing to talk about motivation.
And before I get into thisepisode, um, I really ought to

(00:45):
be more motivated to get aheadon my podcast because I've been
so sick the last couple days, somy voice is like a little off,
but.
I just really do my podcast weekto week.
So I don't have a backlog ofepisodes.
I'm not like ahead by, um, youknow, several weeks or anything.
So when I'm sick it's just likerecord as is.
So sorry if my voice is a littlebit weird.

(01:08):
Um, but specifically today we'regonna talk about the idea that
motivation.
It's supposed to come beforeaction.
Like that's what we alwaysthink, right?
I gotta get motivated and thenI'm gonna do the thing but we
really need to flip that wholebelief on its head.
Here's the common story that Ihear.
I just need to get motivatedfirst, then I'll start planning

(01:29):
my meals.
Or if I could just get mymotivation back, I'll totally be
able to stick with walking.
Or I'm just not feeling itlately and I don't wanna force
myself.
And ultimately it's like I wannalose weight, but I just don't
feel motivated.
Does this sound familiar?
I know this comes up in mybrain, so you're not alone.

(01:51):
But what if I told you thatmotivation doesn't need to be
your starting point at all?
What if it's actually the resultor the reward that comes after
you take the action?
That small shift in thinking canchange everything because when
you believe that motivationshould be the fuel you spend so

(02:11):
much time waiting, waiting tofeel inspired, waiting for the
right mood, waiting for theMonday, when you finally feel
ready and all that waiting,that's what's keeping you stuck.
So let's talk about why thishappens and how to change it.
I use, as you know, theself-coaching model in all of my
coaching, it's the tool I usefor myself and for all of my

(02:33):
clients.
And if you're new here, here's asuper quick review.
The model breaks down everysituation in your life and
divides it into these fivecategories, one right after
another.
So first comes the circumstance.
These are the facts of yourlife.
They are neutral.
Then comes the thoughts.
These are the sentences in yourhead about those facts.
The next line is feelings Thatcomes from the thoughts that the

(02:57):
feeling line is a singular word.
You might also call this youremotion.
Next is your actions, and that'swhat you are doing or not doing
because of those feelings.
And last is the result line,which is the outcome of your
actions.
Now, when we talk aboutmotivation, we typically drop it
right into the feeling line.

(03:18):
I feel motivated, so I go workout, right?
That's the action seemsreasonable, right?
After all, most of us wouldidentify motivation as a feeling
or an emotion.
But in reality, most of us arenot feeling motivated before we
take action.
We often feel unmotivated,tired, frustrated, or even

(03:41):
overwhelmed, and yet some dayswe still go on a walk or drink
our water or eat that plannedlunch.
Why?
How can that be?
Have you ever had this happen toyou?
Because something else isfueling the action, not
motivation.
It might be determination orcommitment or curiosity, but

(04:02):
here's what happens.
After you take that action, youfeel proud, you feel successful.
You feel like I can do this, andthose thoughts.
That creates the motivation.
So motivation doesn't need to bein the feeling line.
It's almost always found at theend of the model in the result
line.

(04:22):
It's something you create bytaking action, not something you
need in order to act.
So let's.
Go with a real life example.
Let's say it's 7:00 AM.
You told yourself last nightyou'd go for a 15 minute walk
this morning, but now you wakeup and you don't feel like it.
The bed is cozy.
The motivation, it's nowhere tobe found.

(04:42):
So you tell yourself it's just15 minutes.
I don't have to run and I don'thave to enjoy it.
I just have to show up.
And you do it, you walk.
Maybe you listen to a podcast,Hey, maybe it's me.
Maybe you're listening to me.
Maybe you grumble a little bit,but when you're done, you're
thinking, I feel better.
I'm glad I did that.

(05:02):
I could probably do that againtomorrow.
See what happened.
You created motivation and thatlittle spark is what helps you
show up again.
That's how momentum is built.
Well, let's talk about now whathappens when you wait for
motivation?
You wake up, you don't feel it,and your brain starts to say,
maybe tomorrow it's not worthit.

(05:23):
If I'm not excited, I'll waituntil I'm really ready.
But when you don't take anyaction, you also don't build any
momentum, which means you're notgetting that motivation in the
result line.
It is like waiting for yourfireplace to get hot before you
put the wood in.
It doesn't work like that.
You put the wood in, you strikethe match.

(05:45):
The heat comes after.
Just like I'm always saying,start with that small, doable
action.
Not a whole lifestyle overhaul,not a rigid plan.
With 22 new rules, just oneaction plan, one meal.
Walk around the block, drink oneextra glass of water, go to bed
at 15 minutes earlier, pausebefore one snack and ask, am I

(06:06):
actually hungry?
Then notice how you feel afteryou do it.
That little spark of pride orsatisfaction, that's the good
stuff.
That's the motivation showing upin your result line, and I get
it, your brain might still tellyou that it's not enough, that a
10 minute walk won't make adifference.
But as we know, small actionsdone consistently will do more

(06:29):
for your health and weight.
Then bursts of motivationfollowed by burnout.
That's why I start my clientswith a 24 hour plan, not because
it's magic, not because it'seven all that exciting, but
because it teaches you to showup for yourself in small, simple
ways that builds self-trust.
And when you trust yourself todo what you say you'll do,

(06:51):
motivation starts to follow.
So if motivation isn't requiredat the start, what feelings do
help you get moving?
These are the ones we wannagenerate with our thoughts.
Rather than waiting formotivation or trying to generate
motivation with our thoughts, wewant to generate the the
feelings that actually get usmoving to take action.

(07:13):
So here's a few determinationthat would sound like I'm doing
this for me.
Commitment.
This is probably my favoriteone.
I do this even when I don't wantto, or I show up for me.
Um, ano commitment.
Also, you can also referenceyour future self in a lot of
these commitment thoughts.
Um, so if you have future selfthoughts that, uh, you want to

(07:37):
bring in that I will alsogenerate the feeling of
commitment.
Curiosity is another favoriteone of mine.
You just can kind of put, Iwonder in any of this, I wonder
how I'll feel after I do this.
I wonder how these vegetableswill taste.
I wonder what it would be likeif I planned my meals.
So curiosity is a great one.
Willingness.
Um.

(07:57):
That would sound like, I don'thave to love this.
I just have to be willing.
It's a little, it's kind ofsimilar to determination.
In fact, when my kids don'twanna do something, especially
when they were younger, like,you know, unload the dishwasher.
I'm like, that's fine.
You don't have to want to, youjust have to do it.
They didn't love that.
I'll tell you, they didn't lovethat.
But, um, that's kind of athought that I use for myself.

(08:18):
Like, I don't have to want to,I, I'm just gonna do it anyway.
And persistence is another one.
This might take time.
And that's okay.
Let it take the time and, uh,not be in a rush.
And so just continuing to bepersistent and saying it's okay
for this to take time.
That will help you to takeaction and, you know, again,

(08:40):
produce that motivation in theresult line.
I also love.
Bridge thoughts.
These are thoughts that help youbelieve something positive, even
when you're not all the waythere yet.
So they sort of have liketraining wheels on your thoughts
that you want to think, but yourbrain rejects them.
So, um, let me explain this adifferent way.
If you have a thought that'skind of like a mantra or

(09:00):
something that you want tobelieve, like, I stick with
things.
I'm a person who sticks withthings, but when you think that
your brain is like, ha, no, no.
No, you're not.
Like it instantly rejects it.
Then you want to put a bridge onit, a little training wheel.
It's possible that I stick withthings or I'm becoming a woman
who keeps her promises toherself.

(09:22):
You can also just add maybe to athought,'cause that helps you,
um, you know, just stay curiousand helps your brain start
working on how it could be true.
Maybe I don't need to feelready, I just need to feel
willing, maybe.
These thoughts create emotionsthat lead to action, and that
action leads to.
Yep.
Motivation.

(09:44):
Alright, so what's keeping youstuck If you're like, I'm, I'm
trying all these things, butwhat, what are the thoughts and
the feelings getting in the way?
these are the sneaky thoughtsthat lead to feelings that keep
you stuck.
The first one is always gonna beconfusion.
I don't know.
I don't know what to eat.
I don't know what workout to do.
I don't know where to start.

(10:05):
Indecision is really similar.
I'm not sure which is the bestplan.
Overwhelm.
It's too much.
I can't do all of it.
Self-doubt.
I always fail anyway, so whybother?
That that's a motivation killerfor sure.
These emotions come fromthoughts that are very real.

(10:26):
We have them, we all do, butthey obviously are not moving
you forward.
They're keeping you spinning.
And here's the trick I.
Your brain loves confusion andindecision, which sounds crazy,
right?
Who wants to be an indecision,but the reason that your brain
actually, your lower brain thatis loves this, is that it helps

(10:46):
it avoid discomfort because ifyou make a decision and go do
something new.
That's gonna be uncomfortable.
So anytime you hear your brainstart in with the, I don't know,
thoughts, just remember, ah,that's just my brain trying to
keep me out of discomfort andslowing down action.
One of my mentors, Jody Moore,says, I don't know, as a

(11:07):
thought, I don't know, is alwaysa lie.
And it really, really is.
That is the big, the biggestone, just keeping you in
confusion and in decision andtruly.
Like lack of information is justnot our problem these days,
right?
Google Chat, GPT, all kinds ofthings.
There's plenty of information.

(11:27):
Sometimes we get into theinformation overload and that
leads to the overwhelm, so ofcourse we wanna kind of limit
that.
But what I mean is it's not alack of information that's
keeping you from doing things.
That's just our brain's way ofkeeping you.
From doing things.
So the antidote is just decideright now, just decide, act,

(11:49):
observe, and adjust.
So we decide on a food plan,even if it's just, I'm gonna eat
exactly what I normally do, butwritten down ahead of time.
You act on it.
You notice how it goes.
You notice what your brain does,what, what it's not gonna like,
what it's gonna argue with, andthen you adjust and you don't
have to get it right.
You just have to get in motion,So when you just decide, when

(12:14):
you just decide, you know what?
I'm just going to try what Lisasuggests, and use the hunger
scale and eat two bites less atevery meal.
I'm just going to try that.
You just decide on that foodplan and give it a try.
Do the experiment on yourself.
Try it for a whole month.
Don't try it for a day.
Try it for a long time, and.

(12:34):
Act on that.
Observe how it works and see ifyou are not creating more
motivation.
Here's what I wanna leave youwith today.
You don't need motivation tostart.
You just need a thought thatcreates one of those other
emotions I mentioned commitment,determination, curiosity.
And then take one action.

(12:55):
When you're feeling that thoseemotions, that action builds
momentum, that momentum buildsmotivation, and suddenly your
brain has evidence.
I do this now I'm the kind ofwoman who shows up.
So don't wait for motivation toappear.
Go create it.
You've got this and if you wantsome help figuring out your
first step, you know, that'sexactly what I do.

(13:18):
So if this episode aboutmotivation resonated with you
and you are ready to makelasting changes in your health
journey.
I would love to help first book,a free consult session with me
to see if my 12 week one-on-onecoaching program is right for
you.
The scheduling link is in theshow notes.
I also have an awesome gift foryou.
Okay.
If you notice that you'reovereating too many times in the
week to hit your weight lossgoals, this one is for you.

(13:40):
It's a super short video coursedesigned to help you know what
to do when those overeats happenand help them come fewer and
farther between I.
This course is one I normallycharge for, but you can get it
at no charge with the link inthe show notes.
Remember, it's not just aboutthe food, it's about empowering
yourself with the choices thattruly serve You.
Have a great week and as always,thanks for listening and sharing

(14:02):
the Eat Well Think Well LiveWell podcast.
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