Coaching to Promote Situational Agency

By Sarah Lyman Kravits, LifeBound Director of Training and Certification | Jan 6, 2026

Willpower Needs Direction

Achieving goals such as learning college-level content, earning a higher education degree, and maintaining a job in a challenging workplace require focused effort over time. This type of effort takes willpower to sustain. Cognitive psychologists define willpower as “the ability to delay gratification, resisting short-term temptations in order to meet long-term goals.” Research by Angela Duckworth, Martin Seligman, and others has shown willpower to be reliably linked to progress and success in learning. This does not mean, however, that it is a fixed quantity possessed by some and not by others. Willpower is variable, and we have some agency around it. How can we make choices that help us sustain and deploy our willpower in ways that serve us?

In a world where distracting temptations are available to eyes and brains 24/7, students need more willpower, more often, than ever before – but as Stanford psychologist Kelly McGonigal has noted, willpower is a complex mind-body interaction that is hampered by factors such as stress and fatigue and cannot be simply “increased.” A more productive path toward building willpower involves exercising control over your environment. Recent writing by Duckworth focuses on what is referred to as “situational agency,” or, making choices in and about your environment that smooth the path toward important goals. Familiar scenarios include sleeping in exercise clothes to increase the chances of a workout the next morning, or improving your diet by not having sugary snacks around. Basically, if you want something to happen, hack your environment to make the action easier and/or reduce barriers to the action. A pertinent example comes to mind: The single action of putting a phone out of sight before a study session drains much less willpower than leaving the phone in sight and having to turn away from it again and again as notifications roll in.

Coaches, as your students lay out their plans for their upcoming coursework, ask questions like these to help them increase situational agency:

In your experience, what most drains your willpower? What most fuels it?
What are your most significant goals this semester? What challenges or barriers do you anticipate as you imagine working toward these goals?
In what ways can you change your environment to increase what fuels your willpower?
How can you reduce, remove, or control what drains your willpower?
Who helps you feel energized and focused? How can you connect with those people as you pursue [insert important goal here]?

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Higher education is grappling with unprecedented challenges—rising mental health crises, the need for greater career readiness, and the unfortunate reality that many students struggle to secure meaningful employment or are let go shortly after starting. These issues affect not only individual students but also university outcomes like enrollment, retention, and long-term institutional success.

By equipping your staff with coaching training, you can help students build resilience, achieve meaningful employment, and address many challenges that universities face today. Allocate your budget toward LifeBound’s training options this year and plan ahead to ensure your institution is prepared to address these critical needs effectively. Let’s create a campus-wide culture of coaching and make an impact!

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