If you’ve been waiting on some fitness motivation before you work out, this episode will change the way you think about consistency and women's health. Holly explains why motivation for women isn’t the starting point—it’s the result of taking action. After more than 30 years of coaching midlife women health, she’s discovered that lasting success comes from collecting proof that you can trust yourself. Every workout, every rep, and every promise you keep becomes evidence that builds confidence, strengthens your identity, and ultimately creates the motivation you’ve been searching for. In this episode, you’ll learn excellent workout tips, and why action always comes before motivation, how to stop relying on fleeting emotions, and what to measure instead of the scale. Holly shares practical strategies for staying consistent even on the days you don’t feel like exercising, so you can create lasting habits and finally build the body you NEED to keep up with the life you LOVE.
If you’ve ever said, “I’ll start on Monday” or “I just need to get motivated first,” this episode is for you.
The truth is, motivation isn’t what creates consistency. It’s actually the result of consistency.
In this episode, Holly challenges one of the biggest myths in fitness motivation: that you need to feel motivated before you take action. After more than 30 years of coaching women, she’s seen the same pattern over and over again. Women wait for the perfect mood, the perfect schedule, or the perfect burst of inspiration. Meanwhile, the life they want stays just out of reach. If you’re looking for lasting motivation for women, especially in the area of Women’s health and midlife women health, this conversation offers a completely different perspective.
Here’s the shift that changes everything:
Action → Proof → Confidence → Identity → Motivation
Every workout you complete, every weight you lift, and every promise you keep to yourself becomes evidence that you’re becoming the woman you want to be. That evidence builds confidence. Confidence shapes your identity. And eventually, motivation shows up because your brain has proof that you’re someone who follows through.
You’ll also learn why emotions are unreliable decision-makers, how to stop letting your feelings dictate your workouts, and why consistency will always outperform perfection. Holly also shares practical workout tips that help you stay consistent even on the days when you don’t feel motivated.
Instead of measuring success by the number on the scale, Holly explains what you should be tracking instead, including:
One of the most powerful ideas from this episode is that you don’t have to be perfect. In fact, 70% effort done consistently will produce better results than chasing 100% for a few weeks before burning out. The real skill isn’t never falling off track. It’s learning how to get back on track quickly.
You’ll also hear Holly’s favorite strategy for the days when motivation feels completely absent: lower the barrier to entry. Sometimes success simply means putting on your workout clothes, walking into the gym, or committing to just ten minutes of movement. More often than not, motivation shows up after you’ve started—not before.
If you’ve been waiting to feel ready, this episode may completely change the way you think about consistency.
Because when you stop chasing motivation and start collecting proof, everything changes.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
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When it comes to reaching your goals, have you ever found yourself saying, "I just need to get more motivated"? Maybe you've been waiting for Monday, or waiting until life slows down, or waiting until you feel excited again in order to take action. But what if motivation has absolutely nothing to do with why some women succeed and others don't? After coaching women for more than 30 years, I believe we've been thinking about motivation all wrong. I don't think you need more motivation; I think you need more proof. Motivation is not something you create, search for, or find. It's something that you earn, and it grows with proof. So if you're looking for some fitness motivation today, keep listening.
Most women think they're struggling because they aren't motivated enough. It's really common to think that you need motivation in order to take action, and therefore, when you witness yourself not doing the things that you said you would do, you automatically search for reasons. And if fitness motivation is lacking right now, you won't take action, and therefore you won't improve your situation, and in the end you find yourself feeling like you've failed. But what if you had an endless supply of action-taking superpowers, even when motivation is nowhere to be found? Isn't that an exciting concept?
So in this episode, you'll learn why feeling motivated is a myth and it has nothing to do with your success or failure, how your brain collects evidence that then creates the motivation that you're looking for, and why most women never get the proof of progress that they desperately need. The funny thing is, when you stop abusing motivation and do something new, you end up with nonstop inspiration that makes you unstoppable so that you can set and achieve any goal that you desire. And yes, even you have this ability.
A little behind the scenes: all of last year, I was stuck in a cycle of on-again, off-again workouts. I'd be on track for weeks and weeks, sometimes months, and then I would travel and it would knock me so far off track, and it would take me about a week to really get back on track. And the truth is, in many ways, this is actually really great progress for me because, in the way past, I'd be off track for multiple weeks after a setback. So it used to be that I'd be on track, something would knock me off, and it would take me way longer to get back on track. I've gotten really good at that part of it, right? I've gotten really good at getting back on track quickly.
And I believe, honestly, that's like the secret to success for anybody, because you're going to get off track. You're never going to stay consistent. I can't stay consistent. And even during the years when I was super duper consistent, it's because my life really didn't have much going on, and I think that's just not a reality for most people. So the real skill, honestly, is getting back on track quickly. So even though I have that skill, last year, even though I would get back on track, my progress suffered because, as I often talk about here, your progress is really all about consistency. Even if you're hitting the mark at 70%, if you're consistent, it adds up.
So I spent the entire year running in the same circle, and my fitness really stayed the same. When I looked back at the year, it was like, oh my gosh, I've been putting in so much effort, but I'm really pretty much in the same place. And now, honestly, that's a win. I'm glad for that because I maintained despite a crazy year. But I was also a bit frustrated because once you get a glimpse of progress, once you get a glimpse of what increasing your weight loads does for your body, it gets addicting. I get addicted to the things that happen for me when I'm consistently adding 5 pounds to my squat, or 5 or 10 pounds to my deadlift, because that transforms my body and my mood and my life and my spirit so powerfully.
And I believe that's how it is for everyone. Most women just don't stay consistent enough to be able to add those 5 pounds. So when you get off track, it's a lot harder to progress your workouts because you're always catching up, right? So so many women have this goal of, like, weight loss, and if you're on track, off track, you're not going to lose weight. You won't. Or if you don't care about weight loss like me, and hopefully if I've kind of indoctrinated you to forget about weight loss, you still won't see the improvements in your fitness, and that is frustrating.
If you miss a week of workouts for any reason, you cannot simply start back up again where you were 2 weeks ago. You can't start back up at those same weight loads, and that is a reason why so many women are on-again, off-again, or sometimes feel terrible after their workouts. You have to de-load somewhere between 10 and 20% if you've been off track for a week, and then you've got to start progressing again. So you have to step backward to then keep going. And so if you keep going, but then you have to step backward again, you can see why I ended the year in the same exact place that I was when I started the year.
So at the end of last year, my weight loads were pretty much exactly the same as they were at the start of the year. And I realized then that I had also spent the year desperate for motivation. When I looked back on it, I was like, ooh, I was always needing to start again because I was getting off track. And so starting again is a proposition. I mean, it's an issue. It's a thing. And this is where the skill lies, and this is what this episode is about. But I was, when I look back, I'm like, wow, last year, boy, I was always searching for some motivation in another cup of coffee.
And let me tell you, from a professional's perspective, that is a stinky place to be. Always needing motivation and always searching for it. Even me, I consider myself pretty relatively successful in this conversation, and yet I was always searching for that motivation. So if you're with me so far, you know there are times when nothing motivates you. Nothing. No matter how hard you look, how much journaling you do, how many podcasts you listen to, how many psychological tricks you play on yourself, there are times when nothing motivates you. Am I right? I've been there. I know this firsthand.
So I was sick of it, honestly. It made me really unhappy, and that's not up to my standards. So at the start of this year, I decided I was going to stay on track no matter what because I was sick of suffering. I decided I would join a local gym when I traveled. I even had a conversation with my husband, who's a bit more financially conservative than I am, and I would be like, babe, I don't care if I have to spend $50 to go into this gym today for 1 day to get a workout done. That is how important it is for me to stay consistent and get this workout done today.
I would plan my travel around my workouts. So if I had the option to plan a workout on Tuesday morning and plan my flight Tuesday night, that's exactly what I would do. I would literally plan my flights and my travel days around when I'm going to fit my workout in, not the other way around. And I would drink as much caffeine as I needed to make myself show up for my workouts when I really didn't want to. Now listen, that's a terrible strategy, but when I'm down and out and I'm committed to the showing up and nothing is motivating me, caffeine works really well for me. I'm very responsive to it. It lights me up. It puts me in a good mood. It gives me temporary fake energy, but it's enough to get me through the door of the gym. And I would drag myself, kicking and screaming sometimes, almost in tears, to get into the gym because the goal was to show up no matter what.
And guess what happened? As you can imagine, I'm in much better shape right now, three-quarters of the way through the year. I am stronger, and my lifts have improved. In fact, I would argue this is discernibly the best shape that I've been in in a number of years. And you want to know the wildest and coolest thing of all that I didn't honestly realize until I was workshopping this podcast last week? I now wake up every single day chomping at the bit to work out. And there are days when I actually have to restrict myself from working out too much. I'll wake up and I'll be like, ooh, I want to go work out, and I'll be like, nope, you can't. You had a big workout yesterday. You cannot do that. It will bite you in the butt. And so I actually have to keep myself from working out too much now. Is that crazy or what? And guess what? The motivation is just there. I'm not searching for it. And oh, by the way, I'm drinking less caffeine than I normally do. I don't have to look for a thing to show up for my workout except my sports bra.
Now, I could probably end this whole episode with that little anecdote because if you were really listening just now, you would get the whole point of this episode. But of course, I wouldn't do that to you. So let's jump into the mechanism behind motivation and why you don't need more. You need more proof. It all hinges on the truth that we have been sold a lie. Most of us believe that success looks like this: motivation, inspiration, action, and that leads to results, right? I know I have a tendency to think of it that way, and I have to remind myself of what I'm going to talk about here in a minute. And so it makes sense to think, once I feel motivated, I will finally become consistent, or once I've got consistent motivation, I will finally be successful, right? Can you relate to that?
So if you're anything like me at all, maybe you listen to podcasts for inspiration. I know I have. Maybe you buy new workout clothes. There are certainly times, especially athletic shoes. For me, there are times where that definitely motivates me. Maybe you go in search of a new program, or maybe you follow a new influencer and you get excited by their spirit and you try out one of their programs, right? Maybe you enlist a workout buddy. Maybe you wait for January or Monday, or maybe if you're like me, you drink another cup of coffee, right? Humans naturally try to manufacture motivation. It's kind of like an operating system that takes over without you even knowing it. It just happens.
But here's the pattern interrupt. Motivation is emotional, and emotions are temporary, and often they're illogical. They fluctuate in a few minutes, and when you're in midlife, emotions can literally swing in just a few seconds. Am I right or what? I watch myself do it all the time. Tony Robbins talks about this a lot, and when he does it, if you've ever heard him give this little discussion, it's my favorite. He'll reference little kids, toddlers, young children, infants, whose emotions swing all over the place at the drop of a hat. One minute they're kicking and screaming and crying and throwing a complete temper tantrum. And when they're presented with a toy or a food or the thing that they want, that they love, they instantly transform into smiles and pure joy and perfect happiness in an instant.
If that is not an example of how fleeting emotions are, I do not know a better example. And guess what? I know you're not a toddler. But there is a part of you that that toddler still remains, right? It's called the inner child. If you've ever done any personal work, you've heard this conversation. And when I first heard this concept, I was like, what are you talking about? I'm a mature adult. There's no young child operating inside of me. Oh, yes, there is. Yes, there is in every single one of us. There's a part of you, a piece of you that is still exactly the same on an emotional level and has the capacity to jump around to different emotions. You just might not be aware of it. And that is why emotion is not a useful barometer or tool. And it's also why motivation is so temporary and fleeting.
So here is a different sequence to wrap your emotions around. Action leads to evidence or proof. Evidence and proof leads to confidence and satisfaction, right? And that leads to identity. And guess what? Identity leads and creates motivation. So think about that for a moment. We're flipping it upside down. Instead of motivation leading to your success, action.
You show up for your workout even when you don't want to. You show up and you eat the steamed broccoli when you would rather not. And that action causes evidence and proof. That proof is improvements in your fitness or improvements in how you feel. Or even, for me, this one's big, just a sense of accomplishment. To me, that's the proof. When I show up, I feel so proud of myself. And that leads to confidence and satisfaction.
And what does that do? Well, it changes the world because now you're confident in yourself. So many women are searching for confidence. We all are, right? Sadly, we are. And this is a piece of the puzzle. When you show up and you take action towards the things that you want in your life, confidence naturally follows. It trickles into your subconscious, and you start to believe that you are that person.
You are someone who shows up for your workouts. And how cool is that? Because I know deep in your heart, that's what you want for yourself. Even if it's hard, right? It's what you want. Because now you've gotten the stronger, fitter body to prove it. And wouldn't that motivate the heck out of you? See, action leads to motivation, not the other way around.
You'll never consistently wake up motivated every single day. I consider myself a highly motivated person. I get a lot done during the day. I am a very accomplished person. And most days, I don't have motivation. It's one reason why I have a tendency to abuse caffeine at times. You will never consistently wake up motivated every day. And you definitely won't feel motivated for a workout every single time. You become motivated because your brain starts collecting evidence that you're becoming the person you want to be.
Up next, you'll learn why most women never get that proof, the proof that they need in order to feel this endless motivation. But first, I want to tell you about an opportunity that's coming up in September.
Have you ever wondered why some women seem to get stronger and leaner and more energetic as they get older, while others feel like they are fighting an uphill battle all the time? The difference usually isn't motivation. It's having the right plan so that they can take action. And that's exactly why you'll want to attend my Strong by Design workshop. It's free, and it's coming up in September.
If you're tired of wondering why your workouts aren't working, why your metabolism feels different or is different, or how to build a body that actually supports the life that you want to live, I made this workshop just for you. We're going to dive into the science of building muscle, how to improve your body composition and why it's important, and how to create a stronger, more resilient body without spending hours in the gym or chasing another restrictive diet.
Imagine if you knew exactly what your body needs to become stronger, more capable, leaner, more energetic over the next decade. That is what we're going to work on together. It's a live workshop, and I hope to see you there. It's a 3-day virtual experience that starts September 17th, and it's totally free. You'll get limited access to the recordings, but only if you sign up right now. Come over to my website, hollyperkins.com/freeworkshop, to save your spot. And I cannot wait to spend some time with you.
So there is a very simple reason why most women never get the proof that they need to move them along the timeline to confidence, identity, and motivation. Most women choose terrible scorecards, the bathroom scale, your body weight not changing, the number of calories you're eating, how sore you are, whether you worked hard enough or not, even waiting for other people to comment on your improved appearance. Those are terrible scorecards. Those measurements don't provide consistent positive feedback.
Imagine spending 6 weeks working incredibly hard, and then the scale goes up by 2 pounds. Of course, your motivation would disappear. And then your brain thinks, "This is not working." When in reality, you might have gained muscle, or maybe some of that is water retention. And what about the other indicators of success, like reduced inflammation or improved insulin sensitivity, or you've gotten stronger, you've lowered your risk of disease, or you're sleeping better? What about those? None of those show up on the scale.
So the scale steals your motivation, and you wonder why you lack motivation. Have you ever thought about that? The problem isn't that you're not making progress. The problem is you're measuring the wrong thing. And this is where it can all change so that you never need motivation again.
Let's define proof so that you can see the impact of your action. I am telling you, I believe this is exactly my special sauce and why I have the power and the ability to transform my body relatively quickly when I really want to. Here are the signs of proof that matter. I lifted 5 pounds heavier. I completed one more workout. My knees don't hurt anymore. I walked upstairs without getting winded. I'm recovering faster. My clothes fit differently. My DEXA scan improved. I have more energy at 3:00 in the afternoon. I actually crave my workouts. These are all pieces of evidence, and every single one of them tells your brain, "I'm getting better. I'm progressing. I'm getting stronger."
So right now, in this exact moment, I'm sitting here in fighting shape. I'm at the best body composition I've been in probably for 3 or 4 years, maybe since I got married, really. This is the best I've been in a long time. And I am thrilled with how my body looks, how it feels, and I am so proud of my consistency with my workouts. So I'm going to give you my examples of proof and how I've been so successful this year after struggling all of last year.
So number one, I counted it as success if I showed up to the gym for a workout. I gave myself permission to just do the bare minimum, to kind of put in half the effort every single time. All I had to do was show up, and then I could pat myself on the back. And that is proof that I'm being successful.
Number two, I would let myself, when I showed up for the workout that I really didn't want to do, I would let myself just move slowly through the first part of the workout. And if I didn't see myself getting into the flow and kind of getting into the groove, I would let myself skip the workout and walk away. And guess what? I gave myself permission to do that. But pretty much every single time, I would get into the groove once I started moving within about 10 to 12 minutes, and I would be into it, and I would get an awesome workout.
But there were a few times where I was like, "This is not working. I'm leaving, and that's okay." Because guess what? I'm successful because I showed up. That was one of those boxes to check in terms of showing myself that I was doing it and I was being successful. I didn't consider it a failure. I didn't feel bad about the fact if I had to leave a workout and give up. It was just like, "Okay, I showed up. I was successful. We're going to try again tomorrow."
Number three, when I was done with my workout, I would text my husband a screenshot of my workout that I was done with it. And part of me, I was definitely like part bragging when I would send it to him, but I was also trying to like subtle motivate him too because I want him to work out consistently, mostly just because I want him to be healthy and live forever with me. But he would always respond immediately and cheer me on and celebrate and say, "Good job, baby. You know what? I'm going to go get a workout too." And that made me feel so good to get that external validation. And that is more proof that I'm being the person I want to be.
Number four, all day after a workout, I would acknowledge and celebrate myself that I got it done. And I would feel so good about it. I'd literally be like, "You know what? Today was successful because I showed up for my workout." The rest of the day could go to SHIT, but it's a successful day because I showed up for my workout. And that does so much for your mood, your motivation, your sense of accomplishment, and feeling that you are successful because you are being that person. So it's more proof.
The next day, I would appreciate that my legs felt a little bit tired because of yesterday's workout, or my arms felt a bit stronger or more toned, and I would acknowledge it, and I would say, "Good job. There is more proof." So I didn't realize I was doing this. This was just what I do. This was as I look back upon this year when I was creating this episode, I was like, "Oh, that's how I got to here." Before I knew it, I was waking up pumped for my workouts because look at all of this good stuff. Look at all of this proof of my success.
My friend, that is motivation. I didn't have to look for it. I didn't have to search for it. It was the result of me walking the walk, talking the talk, and taking action. So let me tell you why this works so well. It's all rooted in psychology. Isn't it always? It really is. We are just psychology walking machines, whether we know it or not.
Your brain is a prediction machine, and it loves evidence, good, bad, or otherwise. Every workout asks one question. Was that worth doing? And if the only feedback is, "Oh, I still weigh the same," or, "But the scale went up," your brain then concludes, "Oh, I guess that wasn't worth it." So if the feedback is, "I just deadlifted 10 pounds more than I did last month," your brain now says, "This is working. I'm succeeding. I am awesome. Look at me being the person I want to be." So guess who shows up for dinner? Motivation.
And here's what's really crazy. Women spend years, years and years and years trying to motivate themselves to exercise. And I love providing topics like this, right? Because if I can help just one woman, I'll be happy. So I will always provide episodes every now and then that are psychologically focused to help you stay motivated. But the truth is, I think that my gifts are that I'm actually better at helping women create workouts that motivate them or create the programming for you.
Because when you build muscle, when your energy improves, when your body composition improves, when you become stronger, your body starts convincing your brain to keep going. You don't have to force motivation anymore. It begins showing up naturally because, as Tony Robbins says, "Success leaves clues." So if you have been waiting to feel motivated, stop waiting. Put on your big girl pants. Just do it. There is a reason why that ad slogan is still so powerful.
Go create one piece of proof today for yourself. Lift one more pound. Do one more rep. Eat more protein at your next meal. Walk into the gym, even if you don't feel like it. Go for a 10-minute walk around your house if you have to. Because motivation isn't something that you find. It's something that you build one piece of evidence at a time. Every workout gives you a vote for the kind of woman that you're becoming and the kind of woman that you want to be.
When you start collecting evidence that you're strong and you're capable and you're athletic and resilient, you'll stop asking, "Where's my motivation?" Instead, you'll start thinking, "This is just who I am now. And how cool is that?" So now that you've realized you don't need motivation, you need action, you might want some guidance on getting the best workouts possible.
I encourage you to listen to episode 105 of my podcast, Strong Over 40, the science of building muscle, strengthening bones, and living longer right now so that you can improve the quality of your workouts and start seeing results faster. Take action. Just visit my website, hollyperkins.com/blog, and then search Strong Over 40, or you can search Strong Over 40 wherever you like to listen to podcasts.
I hope you enjoyed this episode, and I can't wait to see you live at Strong by Design that starts in September. Again, just come to my website, hollyperkins.com/free workshop to sign up, and I will see you there. And stay tuned for another brand new episode on Tuesday of next week. Stay strong, my friend.