Discipline over Motivation: TimTim Sharma on what "being fit" means
About TimTim:
TimTim Sharma is an endurance athlete, coach, and founder of Get Fit With Tim.
From equestrian sports to becoming the fastest Indian woman to complete a Half Ironman, TimTim's journey is built on relentless discipline and a deep love for movement. She’s a certified fitness trainer, yoga instructor, nutrition coach, and an AMC-qualified mountaineer with multiple podium finishes in marathons, ultramarathons, and triathlons.
As a Brooks India athlete, she’s not only breaking records but also breaking myths around fitness, one challenge at a time.
Tune in to our conversation with her:
5 Things We Loved About TimTim’s Story:
1. Take the Risk — Especially on Yourself
TimTim left a stable corporate job at 30 to follow her passion for fitness and endurance sports. She emphasises that life-changing decisions often come from listening to your instincts and betting on yourself, especially when the circumstances allow it.
2. Passion Fuels Purpose — but Discipline Sustains It
She candidly admits that motivation comes and goes, but it’s discipline that carries you through the hard days. Her structured approach to training and life — “I live like a monk” — shows how consistency beats fleeting motivation.
3. Follow Curiosity, Then Connect the Dots
TimTim didn’t set out with a master plan — she explored yoga, mountaineering, and cycling during different phases, especially when injured. Eventually, triathlon became the intersection of everything she loved, proving that experimenting can lead to purpose.
4. Reject Generic Fitness Advice — Your Body Knows Best
She’s vocal about the dangers of “fit-fluencing” and one-size-fits-all advice. TimTim urges people to focus on what feels right for them, backed by science and individual experience, rather than blindly following trends.
5. Baby Steps Lead to Big Wins
Whether it's a gruelling climb or an ambitious goal, TimTim believes in breaking it down. By focusing on the next 10 meters — literally and metaphorically — she’s been able to tackle overwhelming challenges one step at a time.
Our Conversation With TimTim:
Today on the EdexLive podcast, we are thrilled to welcome TimTim Sharma, a powerhouse of endurance, discipline, and transformation. From competing in equestrian sports to becoming the fastest Indian female to complete a half iron man, TimTim's journey is one of grit and excellence.
She's also certified as an ACA fitness trainer, yoga instructor, and nutrition coach with multiple podium finishes in marathons, ultra marathons, and triathlons. As a Brooks India athlete and coach, at Get Fit with Tim, she combines elite level performance with a passion for mentoring and holistic wellness.
We're diving into all things – endurance, mindset and movement. So, join us today on our episode with TimTim Sharma. Hi TimTim, it's so nice to have you here today.
Soundarya (Host): Welcome. I have a few questions about your journey. One of which that we know that you left a stable corporate career to follow something that was quiet, you know, 180 degrees. What is the exact moment that you knew you wanted to switch parts?
TimTim Sharma: I think I wanted to switch parts even before I got onto the corporate path, but I think I was reaching 30 at that point in time. You think, oh my god, 30 - so old! At that point, I was like, there's a decision that I need to take for myself. And if I don't take this decision, I don't wanna be 50 and have regrets. So, it just felt right. Also, the situation that I was in, right? Like my circumstances, I didn't have any loans on me. I didn't have a family, depending on me. I was single. These particular aspects, you know, they define the decision that you eventually take. And since it was just me and the only risk that I was taking was on myself, I was okay with it. So, 30.
Soundarya (Host): And, you trained in so many disciplines, I think since you started earlier on in life, you've had your hand in a lot of things like cycling, yoga, nutrition, mountaineering, but the amount of energy you can give certain things is limited. But what made you decide that you would focus on cycling or you would focus your energy on, mountaineering or yoga or nutrition.
TimTim Sharma: At the point of time that I was trying all of these different things, it was just me following my passion and experimenting and seeing what I really enjoyed.
I tried mountaineering and all of that when running was out of question for me because I was injured. So, this was sort of cross-training. And then eventually I realised that I really enjoy each one of these sports and I found a discipline that required all of these sports. So, triathlon was the one that I went to. And of course I am terrible at swimming even now. But I'm working on it and I'll keep working on it until I get better because I come from that school of thought. And this is what has helped me in the past as well, to be relentless what you really want to achieve.
You can be unabashedly ambitious as long as you're willing to put in the work to get you to the point that you want to get.
Soundarya (Host): So, I think ambition also comes with, do I take this ambition forward with discipline or motivation? Do you think sometimes discipline beats motivation?
TimTim Sharma: All the time. If I had to do things only when I was motivated, I wouldn't have done like - two thirds of what I've done so far, including trying out different sports. And this is sport is one thing that I'm talking about, but that risk taking goes into every other aspect of your life as well until you explore it how are you ever going to be able for -how, you know - that is why structure in your day, prioritisation in your day really nearly helps.
I live like a monk. I eat as fuel, and my passion is my sport. I love it. It doesn't feel like work to me. Anything that takes me away from it; that annoys me. And if you don't enjoy it, you can't do it day after day, year after year. It's not possible to do it if you don't enjoy it.
Soundarya (Host): Absolutely. And discipline helps.
TimTim Sharma: Yes. Only discipline. Not motivation.
Soundarya (Host): On the days that feel really heavy, do you want to see something to yourself? Forget about it. We need to be disciplined. We need to be consistent. And I don't necessarily feel motivated. Let's go out and do it anyway?
TimTim Sharma: So, there was a point in time when I had to do that. Now it's just like, I get up, I have to get it done.
If I'm not doing it, there's something wrong. Discipline has reached that level.
Soundarya (Host): At one point it becomes kind of slow.
TimTim Sharma: Yeah.
Soundarya (Host): You're kind of in that flow and you can't really tell a point before and after it. It's just you're so present in it that it becomes a sort of meditation.
TimTim Sharma: Absolutely. I was reading this book, which is, called The Rise of the Superhuman, it resonated with me, which was that last five years the, the performance leap in human beings and in aesthetic behaviour has been a lot more than the cumulative of the last 50 years; 50 years prior to that. And that is because of the state of being in flow.
When you are in that zone, everything else just becomes noise, and it just becomes so slow. And although it looks like things are moving at a breakneck speed, including your day, it isn't really. Because you have made time for everything and you are able to observe everything and you know, instinctively if something's wrong in place.
So that flow really resonates with me.
Soundarya (Host): Right. And when you were younger, and if you could talk to your younger self right now, what would you tell her given you know, your situation, what was she struggling with and what would you tell her?
TimTim Sharma: When I was younger, maybe the one thing was that I knew that I am not the norm and I would try to be the norm, but today I would just tell her like, hey, you know what? Enjoy it, revel it, celebrate it. Like that is who you are, so just accept it. That acceptance is what has helped me come into my own later on in life.
Soundarya (Host): And I feel like a lot of people also say, you know, when it comes to influencing fitness, when you talk about fit-fluence or something, is there a bit of noise that you know, people should just ignore?
From that and what can they take from fit influencing online that is useful, if anything, and what can they discard?
TimTim Sharma: If someone who's out there trying to influence you, that in itself is fake. So, if something is inspiring, you organically find out more about it. Things that will work for me does not necessarily have to work for you.
And the fact that we are all unique is the one thing that that is common to all of us. So, your journey in fitness will be different from Alan's journey, will be different from Vidya's journey, will be different from TimTim's journey. Pleasure. So, if someone is giving you something generic for me, that is like a red flag in itself.
Do not go for anything generic. Have a conversation. Stay away from pretty much like everything you hear, which is not backed by science or something concrete. Look for concrete evidence because that is key. And see how it suits you.
Like there's different aspects which are influencing you, so something that works for them cannot work for you. Even your diet, right? Like within India is so vast. Our diets were extremely scientific. So going away from your regular diet is also a big question mark when it comes to nutrition. When it comes to fitness, and I speak to a lot of people about it, just because 20 people around you are running doesn't mean you have to run.
Find what works for you, find what doesn't feel like work for you. You know, your body knows. Learn to trust your gut. And learn to listen to your body.
Soundarya (Host): Absolutely. You spoke about, you know, finding new challenges all the time. What makes you so hungry to find so many different things?
TimTim Sharma: It keeps me motivated. It keeps me disciplined. Otherwise, I do like pretty intense training for about 25 hours - week on week. And there's a lot of back-to-back racing as well. It's easy to get burnt out. Remember that like endurance sport, it's long hours and it's a repetitive movement, but make a challenge, have a goal that suddenly changes everything.
Find that spark. Very recently, just yesterday I took part in my first road race in the masters men category because that's gonna challenge me. It's like these baby steps which help you reach these big goals that you set for yourself. If you look at something that is obnoxious, you know?
It's obnoxiously ambitious. It'll overwhelm you. But it doesn't overwhelm you when you're taking baby steps to reach that goal. This is when I just started riding. I was riding and I had to climb Lonavala. And I was at the bottom and I could see, and, and one of my friends who was riding with me said to me, “hey, TimTim, you see that point? That's where you need to go.” I was like, oh no man. Like I gotta take a U-turn and go back. And then I was like, no, you know what? I'm just gonna see 10 meters ahead and I'm gonna do that 10 meters. And then before I knew it, I was in the Lonavala, then I was in Mahabaleshwar. So just baby steps.
Soundarya (Host): So, is there a win outside of the podium that has meant a lot to you? A personal win in life?
TimTim Sharma: Today, if I look at that person, the person that I was 20 years back, I'd be like, is that really you? Is this who you're gonna grow up to be? So, when I see that, I believe anything is possible. And like you said, if I can do it, anyone can do it. And which is why I feel that we don't push ourselves enough, we get too comfortable and getting comfortable is the death of a person. And when I say death, not just the physical, it's just the growth just finishes.
Soundarya (Host): What do you think is the difference between being satisfied where you are, and still being hungry for new challenges? How do you draw a line? Because for someone who wants to constantly pursue something, that might feed them as well, but someone else would say, maybe I just wanna do one thing and be satisfied with it. So, is satisfaction a very flexible concept?
TimTim Sharma: So, for me, I can only speak for myself. Because it is subjective. So, for me, I know the amount of work that I have put in. And wherever I stand at, contentment would be the word. This is who I am, this is what I do for the amount of work that I have put in.
This is where I'm at. Is this fair? Am I content? That's where the contentment comes, but then the ambition comes in. And that ambition brings in the satisfaction. When I reach that point, am I willing to put in the work to reach that point? Will that add to my level of contentment? Will that satisfy me? You know, that is the question I ask myself. The answer's always gonna be no, because I want more. I always want more. Because that drives me. And when I say more, it's not necessarily the podium, it's more learning, more knowledge, more being able to educate, more being able to break myths, more being able to spread the importance, the knowledge of what physicality can do for your mental wellbeing, more of being able to have hard conversations. These all wins for me in different aspects of life.
Soundarya (Host): Thank you, TimTim for joining us and for this incredibly insightful conversation. And that's a wrap on this episode with TimTim Sharma. A powerful reminder that it's never too late to pivot. Rebuild or chase what truly matters.
If this episode gave you something to think about or just the push you needed, do check out our other episodes on edexlive.com and keep following EdexLive for more voices that matter.
Until next time, stay curious, stay grounded, and keep showing up for yourself.
Follow TimTim Sharma on Instagram: @timtimsharma
