Willpower is the inner strength that helps you do what you know you should do, even when you don't feel like doing it. It's what pushes you to finish your homework when you'd rather play video games, or keeps you practicing piano scales when your fingers are tired and you want to quit.

Think of willpower as a mental muscle. When your alarm goes off on a cold morning and your warm bed feels impossible to leave, willpower is what gets you up anyway. When you're trying to save money for something special and your friends want to stop for ice cream, willpower helps you stick to your goal.

Willpower isn't about being perfect. Everyone's willpower gets tired, especially after making lots of difficult choices in one day. A student might have strong willpower during morning classes but find it harder to resist distractions by evening. That's normal. You can build up willpower through practice, just like exercising makes your body stronger.

Some people call willpower self-discipline or self-control. Whatever you call it, it's the force that helps you choose the harder right over the easier wrong.