How to Create More Self-Control: What Coaches Need to Know About Willpower and Mindset

Here's something to consider. Do your clients really need more self-control, or is their mindset around self-control more important?

Self-control often feels like the missing ingredient in a client's progress. Can't stop procrastinating? Not enough willpower. Ate the whole bag of chips again? Just need more discipline.

But what if your clients' ability to follow through on their goals has less to do with how much self-control they have, and more to do with how they think about it?

In this post, I share what the research says about willpower, why mindset matters more than you think, and how you can help your clients build more self-control by shifting how they view it.

The Belief of Limited Willpower

How often do you blame your lack of willpower?

• That's why you haven't created that online course...
• That's why you can't stick to that new early-to-bed, early to rise schedule...
• That's why you can't stop procrastinating on social media content batching...

What if I told you that how MUCH self-control you have doesn't matter as much as how you PERCEIVE your self-control.

For years, the dominant theory in self-control research was called ego depletion — the idea that self-control is a finite resource. Like a battery, it drains every time we resist temptation or make a tough decision.

There's some truth to this. We've all had days when we're mentally exhausted from making one decision after another, and that's when we cave to fast food or skip the gym.

But there's a big catch. Your mindset around willpower, and there's some interesting research I want to share about it with you.

Does Self-Control Require Energy Over Time?

In a study from the University of Zurich, researchers wanted to better understand how self-control is (or isn't) something that requires energy over time, and if it can be depleted with use.

They also wanted to consider the effects of someone's mindset about self-control.

Study Set-Up

The researchers assessed people's beliefs about self-control and then provided them with either a sugar-sweetened lemonade or an artificially sweetened lemonade.

The purpose of the different kinds of lemonade was to provide half of the people with glucose (sugar) and half without.

Previous research suggests that those who consume lemonade with sugar (aka calories for energy) should be able to exert better self-control. They made this assumption based on the idea that self-control is truly "energy depleting" and a limited resource.

Next, participants completed two self-control tasks back-to-back with the goal to "deplete" self-control with the first task, making it harder to complete the second task.

The overall goal of the study was to evaluate the impact of the lemonade AND the mindset of each person on their self-control.

Research Findings

Researchers found that the sugar-sweetened lemonade (the energy-providing drink) only helped people exert self-control IF they also believed that their self-control was a limited resource.

There was no relationship between the type of lemonade consumed and the self-control performance for the people who believed that self-control wasn't limited.

In other words, the people who believed their self-control wasn't limited didn't need glucose to sustain their self-control, whereas those who believed it was limited did.

Belief Around Self-Control

Another interesting study also suggests it's not just self-control itself that matters; it's your mindset about self-control that makes the biggest difference.

Researchers found that people who believed willpower was a limited resource were more likely to show signs of ego depletion. But people who believed that self-control was not limited didn't experience the same drop in performance, even after mentally draining tasks.

Once again, the research indicates that if you believe your willpower is limited, it becomes limited.

Why This Matters for Fitness Coaches

Your clients face dozens of small decisions every day that challenge their self-control:

• Should I wake up for the early workout?
• Should I eat this salad or get takeout?
• Should I keep scrolling or prep my meals?

If they believe their self-control is fragile or bound to run out, they're more likely to give in when things get tough.

But if they believe they can access more self-control when they need it, or even recharge it with the right strategies, they're more likely to follow through.

Help Clients Practice Self-Control

Rather than strictly focusing on how to improve self-control or building self-discipline, it's helpful to help your clients reshape their mindsets around willpower.

Start by normalizing effort because they are not going to get high self-control overnight.

Let clients know that everyone experiences moments of low motivation or high temptation. It doesn't mean they're failing; it means they're human. What matters more is what they believe they're capable of doing next.

You also need to help them develop a growth mindset.

Just like muscles grow with use, self-control can improve with practice. Encourage clients to track small wins and moments when they made value-aligned decisions. Reinforce the idea that self-control is a skill, not a fixed trait.

You can also help them focus more on values and their identity when your clients are trying to develop greater self-control.

Shift the conversation from "I have to avoid junk food" to "I'm someone who nourishes my body." This mindset makes decision-making feel empowering instead of depleting.

Coaching Tools to Build More Self-Control

There are several evidence-based strategies I teach in the Health Mindset Coaching Certification that can help you coach clients who are struggling with self-discipline and mindset.

The Health Mindset Coaching Certification is a 14-week program for health and fitness professionals that equips you with the skills you need to help your clients end self-sabotage, break through mindset barriers, and make behavior changes for good.

I teach research-backed methods from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and other psychological tools that will help your clients embrace a growth mindset and create lasting behavior change.

Join the waitlist here, and you'll get immediate access to some free primer materials to get you started!

Here are a few tools to get you started in the meantime.

Mental Rehearsing

Mental rehearsal is a visualization technique that helps clients prepare for moments of temptation or challenge before they occur. While I'm not always a big fan of visualization because people forget to consider the challenges that may come up, this is a great way to use visualization to prepare for inevitable obstacles.

Ask your clients to close their eyes and mentally walk through scenarios where they might normally struggle, like passing by the donut shop or coming home exhausted after work.

Guide them to imagine not just the situation, but the response they want to practice: choosing to keep walking, preparing a nourishing dinner, or texting a friend for support.

By rehearsing these moments mentally, clients strengthen neural pathways associated with their ideal behaviors. This creates a sense of familiarity, reduces anxiety, and makes it easier to follow through in real life.

It also empowers clients to feel more in control of their choices before they even face them. The more they practice mentally, the more automatic their behavior becomes when the real situation arises.

If-Then Planning

Also known as "implementation intentions," if-then planning links a potential trigger with a specific, intentional behavior. The formula is simple: If X happens, then I will do Y.

This technique works because it moves decisions from reactive to automatic. Instead of needing to exert willpower in the moment, your client already has a clear plan of action.

Help your clients identify common friction points, then create specific if-then strategies:

• If I get the 3 p.m. snack craving, then I'll drink a glass of water and wait 20 minutes before deciding if I really want a snack.
• If I miss my morning workout, then I'll walk during lunch.

This approach not only builds more self-control but also reduces decision fatigue and reinforces the idea that healthy behaviors can be planned for, rather than willed into existence in the moment.

Ditch the All-or-Nothing Thinking

Clients often spiral into shame and guilt after they "mess up." But research shows that self-compassion, not criticism, is the key to recovery and resilience.

Self-compassion is about recognizing that everyone struggles sometimes, treating yourself with kindness, and learning from the experience rather than judging it. As a coach, you can encourage this mindset by modeling it and reinforcing it with language like:

• It's okay to slip up. It doesn't erase your progress.
• What would you say to a friend who had the same experience?
• What's one small step forward you can take right now?

When clients are kind to themselves instead of spiraling into self-criticism, they recover faster, make more productive choices, and build greater emotional resilience. This doesn’t mean they let themselves off the hook. It means they stay in the game instead of quitting entirely.

By helping your clients practice self-compassion, you're helping them unlock a mindset that supports long-term success, consistency, and yes, more self-control.

More Self-Control Starts with a Stronger Mindset

It's important to remind your clients that even the most successful people in health and fitness don’t have superhuman self-control. What they do have is:

• Systems that reduce temptation
• Habits that reduce decisions
• Mindsets that help them bounce back

When your clients adopt the belief that they are capable of regulating their behavior and that willpower is something they can build and refill, they start acting in alignment with that belief, and they'll see more positive outcomes along the way.

If your clients constantly blame themselves for "not having enough willpower," it's time to shift the conversation to help them see that their mindset about self-control is the strategy.

If you want to help them master tools like self-compassion, if-then planning, and identity-based habit change, start with my 5 FREE Mindset and Behavior Change Lessons from the Health Mindset Coaching Certification.

They're packed with behavior change strategies you can use immediately in your coaching.

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IG:@coachkaseyjo@healthmindsetcert

Sources

Job, V., Dweck, C. S., & Walton, G. M. (2010). Ego depletion--is it all in your head? implicit theories about willpower affect self-regulation. Psychological science, 21(11), 1686–1693. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797610384745

Job, V., Walton, G. M., Bernecker, K., & Dweck, C. S. (2013). Beliefs about willpower determine the impact of glucose on self-control. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(37), 14837-14842. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1313475110