Five years ago, a small community on Facebook formed with one goal: to create a safe space to find support to make daily movement a priority.

The message resonated — the Start TODAY group grew to a sizable 165,000 members nationwide who participated in monthly challenges, posted daily updates and held each other accountable. It quickly became a hub of walking enthusiasts taking back control of their physical and mental health and creating a community built on support and shared goals.

And there is one notable name who pops up often in the community: TODAY weatherman and co-host Al Roker. He posts daily, sharing videos of his walks and offering words of encouragement to members. In fact, he has been dubbed the “Chief Motivation Officer” of Start TODAY and has joined the roster of talent in the new Start TODAY app, leading indoor walking workouts and audio podcasts to help people level up their walks.

Roker’s health journey has not been an easy one — from a cancer diagnosis to knee surgeries to blood clots — he has overcome significant obstacles. But his walking habit has been key to his recovery.

Roker says he discovered the “power of walking” after prostate cancer surgery in 2020. He was walking 5 miles a day within a week — doctor’s orders — and it jumpstarted his walking habit. Two years later, when Al Roker was hospitalized for blood clots and had his gallbladder removed, he had been racking up walking streaks and easily surpassing 10,000 steps a day — and it may have saved his life. “My doctor said the physical condition I was in because of the walking — because of the cardio — that probably helped save my life,” he said on TODAY in January 2023. “My doctor told me that if I wasn’t in the shape … that I was in, there was a very good chance I did not survive,” he told TODAY.com.

And while Roker knows firsthand the positive impact walking can have, part of what makes him the perfect motivation coach is that he struggles with staying motivated, too. He admittedly doesn’t enjoy exercise and has days where he doesn’t feel like lacing up his sneakers. On those days, here are the things he tells himself that keep him motivated and moving:

He views exercise as self care

While Roker doesn’t “enjoy” exercise, he has stopped seeing it as a chore and instead, reframed movement as an opportunity for self-care. That’s one of the reasons he walks alone. “When I go for a walk, I like the solitude, because I’m surrounded by people all day, and I love them, but that gives me a chance to kind of recharge, reset, take in nature. It’s a special time, and so you need to find those times for yourself. And I think at the end of the day, you’ll be better off for it.”

He also commits to morning workouts to ensure he starts his day with making his health a priority. “I try to do it early in the morning, because there are no meetings, there are no phone calls, there’s nothing going on,” he added. “I try to put myself as a priority, at least my health as a priority, because if you’re not good for you, how are you going to be good for those that you care about?”

He eliminates excuses

For years, Roker said he made excuses why he couldn’t make his health a priority. “I got just tired of making excuses,” he told TODAY.com. “It’s a matter of just prioritizing your time. We tend to make excuses for why you can’t do something, and I think you just need to make you a priority.”

Lack of time — a common excuse for skipping a workout — is no longer an acceptable barrier to getting his steps in, which is why you’ll see Roker squeezing movement in where he can, like walking the airport before a flight and using a treadmill during meetings. But that doesn’t mean it always comes easily. “I sometimes have to have a talk with myself. ‘Look, you got to get up. You got to get out.’ Because we are very good at making excuses for why we don’t do something, it’s harder to make an excuse why you need to do something. So I like to let other people know you’re not alone. You’re not out of the ordinary.”

He embraces mediocrity

Roker says that accepting the reality of where he is at — even if that means admitting he is not great at something — has helped fuel his successes. He encourages people to embrace wherever they are in their own health journey and then take baby steps.

That’s the bottom line: You can do something. And if you keep doing something, and you do okay at it, then you’ll do something more.

Al Roker

“You can do something. That’s the bottom line: You can do something. And if you keep doing something, and you do okay at it, then you’ll do something more. I think you need to find your level and then enjoy that level, and then maybe you feel good enough to move to the next level,” he said. “I’ve built my career on mediocrity, and every now and then, if I go above that, wow. Bonus. And that’s kind of been my health journey, too. I just kind of start here, and if I can get to here, that’s great. And then maybe when I’m here for a little bit, I can get to here, just little steps. You don’t have to do everything all at once. Nobody does that.”

He’s motivated by inspiring others

While he is a solitary walker, Roker says he posts his walks for the Start TODAY community because he is motivated by the feedback and knowing that he helped encourage someone else to get up and move.

“The overarching theme is, is we’re in this together. You know that whatever you need from the community, they’re there for,” he said. “Some people just need a ‘Hey, way to go.’ Others need a real pep talk and if you look at the comments, you’ll see that people are getting from the Start TODAY community what they need. And that may change over time. On one day, you may need more of a pep talk. On another day, just a ‘Hey, way to go.’ And, that’s what’s great about it is there really is no judgment.”