Willpower is the ability to choose what you want to do, even when something else feels easier, or more tempting, in the moment.  It’s often described as ‘self-control,’ but it’s a little more complicated than that. Willpower can fluctuate depending on things like sleep, stress, hunger, emotions, habits, and, your environment.

 How does willpower help a person?

Here are some examples below, how willpower can help:

• “I’m going to go for my walk, even though I don’t feel like it.”

• “I’ll only have a small piece of cake, that’s all.”

• “I’m going to do my workout, rather than laying on the couch.”

• “I won’t give up, just because I’ve had a bad day.”

• “I’ll stick to my plan, even though I’m tempted to abandon it; I’ll only regret it tomorrow.”

The important thing is that willpower isn’t about never being tempted. Willpower is about being tempted, but still being able to pause, and make a deliberate choice, rather than automatically following the temptation.

Motivation is the desire or willingness, to take action towards something you want, or, need to achieve; it’s having a specific goal and working towards it.

How can motivation help a person?

Here are some examples below, how motivation can help:

• Get started — overcome the feeling of “I don’t feel like doing it.”
• Take action — turn an intention into something they actually do. “I’ll exercise, rather than laying on the couch.”
• Stay focused — keep their attention on a goal. “I’m not going to eat that cookie.”
• Persevere — continue when something becomes difficult or progress is slow. “The scales aren’t showing any lost weight yet, but I’ll keep at it.”
• Build positive habits — repeated action can eventually become part of a routine.
• Feel a sense of achievement — accomplishing small steps can increase confidence and encourage further action. “I’ve lost a few pounds, so I’ll keep at it.” Or, “I sleep better when I don’t drink, so I’m not going to drink moving forward.”

One important thing to remember is that motivation can come and go.  We don’t have to feel motivated all of the time, but this is where you have to know what you truly want, ie, you can see the outcome. If you know your ‘Why’ and can see ‘Your journey,’ it really helps.  Sometimes, by simply taking the first small step, it will create the motivation that you need, to keep you going in the right direction.

Motivation gives us the push to start, the reason to continue, and the encouragement, to work towards something that we want to achieve. Researchers have found that motivation can support exercise.

Can motivation and willpower work together?

Willpower and motivation can work together, but they do different jobs.

• Motivation gives you the reason to act. It helps you think, “I want to do this because it matters to me.”
• Willpower helps you act when motivation isn’t there. It helps you resist distractions, overcome impulses, and stick with your decision.
• Together, they can help you achieve goals. Motivation can get you started, while willpower can help you to keep going when things become difficult, or you simply don’t feel like doing anything.

For example, if someone wants to exercise:

Motivation: “I want to become fitter and stronger, so I want to exercise.”
Willpower: “I don’t really feel like exercising today, but I’ve decided I’m going to do it anyway.”

However, there’s another important piece of the success puzzle, that over time, joins motivation and willpower, and, this is Habit.  By creating a Habit, or a number of habits, it means that you consistently take action. Habit’s mean that you don’t have to rely as heavily on either motivation or willpower, because, the behaviour starts to become automatic.

I am talking from experience when I mention habit, because I have built habits in the past, especially so when I lived in Spain, and, I’m still building habits – but I’ll mention this in another post on our Weights2go Community page. 

There is another behaviour that often joins Willpower, Motivation, and, Habit, and this is, Consistency.

So, in a simple formula (which is written in basic terms, and, not in scientific terms):

Motivation → gives you the desire
Willpower → helps you to take action despite resistance
Habits → make continued action easier
Consistency → moves you towards to your goal

This is why, success doesn’t necessarily belong to the person who has the most willpower, or is the most motivated. Success, often belongs to the person who keeps taking small steps, even when willpower and motivation fade, because they have formed a habit, which makes them consistent.

The Takeaway

You don’t have to feel motivated every day, and you certainly don’t need perfect willpower to make progress. There will be days when you feel full of energy and determination, and there will be other days when the sofa looks far more appealing!

What matters is that you keep taking those small steps. Let motivation remind you why you started, use willpower when you need a little extra push, build habits that make healthy choices easier, and focus on being consistent rather than perfect.

Remember, one bad day doesn’t undo all the good days that came before it, and one missed workout doesn’t mean you’ve failed. Simply start again at the next opportunity.

Small steps, repeated over time, can create big changes. So, find your reason, take that first step, keep going, and remember that progress is a journey – not a race.

Research & Further Reading

The information in this article is supported by research including:

• Bieleke et al. (2025) – A scoping review of naturalistic assessments of self-control.
• Teixeira et al. (2012) – Exercise, physical activity, and self-determination theory: a systematic review
• Gardner et al. (2010) – The automatic component of habit in health behavior: habit as cue-contingent automaticity
• Gollwitzer & Sheeran (2006) – Implementation Intentions and Goal Achievement
• Pilcher et al. (2017) Clocking self-regulation: why time of day matters for health psychology
• Wang et al. (2021)
  A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Mental Contrasting With Implementation Intentions on Goal Attainment.

Disclaimer: The information provided here, and on this website, is for general educational purposes only and it is not intended to replace professional medical or healthcare advice. Before making changes to your diet, exercise or fitness routine, please consult a qualified healthcare professional to ensure that it’s healthy and appropriate for you.