GUEST POST: The Motivation Cheat Code: Sidestep Willpower Using Science

(cover image by Prateek Katyal from Pexels)

by Annabel Noble

Annabel Noble is a Sport and Exercise Psychology student at Loughborough University who also competes internationally for Wales Lacrosse. She’s passionate about transforming psychological theory and research into practical, everyday habits—especially in the world of sports performance. Annabel focuses on creating simple, realistic routines that help people overcome setbacks, whether from injury or everyday challenges. You can continue the conversation with her on https://twists.com/@AnnabelN

What if I told you motivation wasn’t needed to succeed—and simple science offers a more reliable method.

Got a million things to do but, zero motivation to start? We’ve all been there, one task turns into ten and suddenly things become overwhelming very quickly. In this blog, I use the latest science to challenge the idea that success requires natural motivation and show you how habit science and sport psychology offers a smarter approach. By the end, you will know how to build rituals that reduce mental friction so you can stay consistent even when motivation fades.

Let me start by telling you more about me. I play international sport while studying for my degree in sport psychology, and I often hear, “you must be so driven to succeed”. The truth? I don’t have endless willpower, and waiting to ‘feel motivated’ doesn’t work for me, especially when I’m overwhelmed or exhausted. So, let’s now dive into the science together and find out what does work for me, and how it can help you too.

Why motivation isn’t enough?

Let’s start by breaking down motivation. Motivation is unpredictable, it is affected by mood, sleep, workload and even the weather, which is why relying on it is risky. Research shows that People are more likely to follow through on their goals when they form specific plans tied to environmental or situational cues, what psychologists call “implementation intentions” (1). Instead of deciding each day whether to study or train, habits make the actions automatic. Less thinking time more doing, and when things go wrong these habits keep you grounded. This became crucial when I tore my ACL weeks before competing in the World Cup for Wales, it was these habits that kept me grounded— let’s find out how.

How routine helps you through hard times.

Tearing my ACL could have derailed everything, my training, competition and even my academics. I was sidelined into rehab instead of on the pitch and I was mentally drained. But, what kept me going wasn’t motivation, it was the structure I had already built that carried me through.

My rehab sessions happened at the same time each day, providing rhythm and focus when everything else felt uncertain. I maintained my mental preparation routines, even without competition, and continued using my study rituals so my academic progress didn’t fall apart. These small, repeated actions created a sense of normality and control.

Over time, that consistency didn’t just preserve my performance, it helped rebuild my motivation. Research shows that habits formed through repeated behaviour in stable contexts become automatic and resilient (2), and in my case, routine became my recovery strategy mentally and physically.

So, how do you build dependable habits?

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes life just gets in the way, a deadline creeps up or training gets extended last minute. But, having some sort of structure helps you respond instead of react. When habits are in place, you have a mental anchor, a reliable starting point, even in chaos. You don’t need to overhaul your life, start with one or two areas where you want more consistency and apply this framework:

Create simple cue-based rituals

Choose small, repeatable actions you can build into your day, so they become automatic. Examples:

Time-based – “at 4pm”
Location based – “when I sit at my desk”
Sensory cues – “when I listen to my upbeat playlist"

This builds what we call a “habit loop” which refers to a cue and/or routine reward that helps bypass motivation (3), essentially the motivation cheat code. Example: “At 5pm, I will fill my water bottle, put on my upbeat playlist, and leave for the gym.”

Make it so small, you cannot skip it

This is key for your new routine! It should be so low effort that it feels easier to do it than avoid. Psychologists sometimes call the motivation needed to overcome the mental hurdle of starting a task as “activation energy” (4). Being able to lower the activation energy for a task makes it easier to begin. For me, that just meant doing 5 minutes of rehab on low motivation days which enabled me to get the ball rolling with my rehab and kept the habit alive.

Reward the process, not the outcome

When I’m struggling, I ground myself by remembering to “think where your feet are”, a simple reminder to stay present and focus on what’s right in front of me. Big goals, like a New Year’s resolution to, ‘get fit and go to the gym’ are exciting, but we often skip the small, foundational steps that make them possible. We’re so used to chasing results that we forget the power of small, consistent actions that drive real change. Motivation lasts longer when you celebrate consistency, not just outcomes. That’s where tools like habit trackers, journals or calendars come in. Each checkmark becomes a small but powerful reinforcement of progress and over time, these tiny wins stack into something unstoppable. That’s why habits don’t run on willpower, they run on autopilot.

Why habits win when willpower fails.

Habits lighten the load on your brain—they cut down decision-making, make it easier to get started, and create consistency that fuels motivation. When something is a habit, you don’t waste mental energy deciding whether to do it, you simply do it. That’s why habits are so powerful during setbacks. Whether you’re recovering from injury, battling through a rough week at work or pushing through a low energy day, habits keep you moving, when willpower alone would give up.

Final thoughts…

Motivation doesn’t ensure success, that comes from design. When you build a system that supports your actions, even when you’re not feeling it, habits will carry you forward and keep you on track. So, the next time someone says, “you must be so motivated”, smile and think about the simple routines doing the real work, which I call my motivation cheat-code.

References:

1. Trenz, N., & Keith, N. (2024). Promoting new habits at work through implementation intentions. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 97(4). https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12540

2. Stillman, C. M., Watt, J. C., Grove, G. A., Wollam, M. E., Uyar, F., Mataro, M., Cohen, N. J., Howard, D. V., Howard, J. H., & Erickson, K. I. (2016). Physical Activity Is Associated with Reduced Implicit Learning but Enhanced Relational Memory and Executive Functioning in Young Adults. PLOS ONE, 11(9), e0162100. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0162100

3. Inzlicht, M., Shenhav, A., & Olivola, C. Y. (2018). The Effort Paradox: Effort Is Both Costly and Valued. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 22(4), 337–349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2018.01.007

4. Gardner, B., Lally, P., & Wardle, J. (2012). Making health habitual: The psychology of “habit-formation” and general practice. British Journal of General Practice, 62(605), 664–666. https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp12x659466

Sep 12 GUEST POST: The Motivation Cheat Code: Sidestep Willpower Using Science