What it Really Takes to Build Willpower and Discipline

Andrew Huberman Proved I'm Right

Andrew Huberman recently proved that I'm an expert in discipline.

Yes, you read that right.

Okay, I know how arrogant this sounds. But let me boast just a little bit.

It’s not every day that an educator you look up to gives scientific backing for what you’ve been talking about for years, purely from your own experience.

But, of course, this essay isn't about me. It's about sharing with you something that could improve your life drastically and, most importantly, something you can start doing today.

I could talk about discipline and willpower for days, especially with these additional insights by Dr. Huberman. But I want to make this an efficient and practical reading experience for you. To achieve that, here is an overview of what I’m going to talk about in the rest of this essay:

-I’ll give you a breakdown of new insights on discipline and willpower that Dr. Huberman shared in his recent appearance on the Modern Wisdom podcast.

-I will explain how it aligns with insights on willpower and disciplined I’ve been sharing over the years. (proving I'm a discipline expert)

-I will provide you with additional listening and reading resources on this topic.

One of the most interesting structures in the entire nervous system, according to Andrew Huberman, is one that is rarely talked about. Its name is AMCC, that is, anterior midcingulate cortex.

If you stimulate AMCC in a human, they immediately feel as if some challenge is impending and, most importantly, they are going to meet that challenge.

“It's a forward center of mass against challenge response,” as Huberman says. It’s like turning willpower and tenacity on.

Now is a good time to make note that, during this conversation, Dr. Huberman doesn’t use the word “discipline.” However, while using terms such as willpower and tenacity, he explains that he is talking about doing difficult and challenging things, especially when we don’t feel like doing them. And that's also one of the most widely accepted definitions of discipline.

Now back to AMCC.

I will now, just like Dr. Huberman did, list some of the most interesting and important scientific findings about AMCC that will give us a better idea of just how important this small part of the brain is.

-Individuals that are dieting or resisting some sort of tempting behavior and are successful in doing so have an increase in the size of their AMCC.

For people who go on a diet or fail, the size and activity levels of their AMCC stay the same or decrease.

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Plus you get my other book, The Gold Pill, for free.

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-For superagers, that is, people who maintain high levels of cognitive function into their 70s, 80s, and 90s, their AMCC maintains its size or increases into their later years.

The situation is different with typical aging. We’ve all heard about how much of our brain's grey mass we lose as we grow older. Most of that lost grey mass is actually from the AMCC.

How can we influence our level of activity in the AMCC?

-If people are given an easy task, the AMCC isn't activated.

-But if they are given a difficult task, whether physical or cognitive, especially a task that they don't want to do, the levels of activity in AMCC go through the roof.

-In an experiment, people aged 60–79 were given the task of adding 3 hours of cardiovascular exercise per week. The size of their AMCC increased during that 6-month protocol and offset the normal age-related decline in this part of the brain.

-AMCC is involved in generating willpower for all things, not just one situation. (We will be coming back to this insight later as it's especially related to one of my concepts around discipline.)

And, for one of the most intriguing ideas around AMCC...

-Huberman says that there is a theory emerging that AMCC isn't just about tenacity and willpower to push through difficult things; it may actually be about one's will to live.

What should we do with this information? It’s perfectly clear and simple: do difficult things on a daily basis.

However, doing things that are objectively challenging isn’t enough.

Science tells us that if you do things that are objectively difficult but you enjoy them, it's not going to increase the size or activity of the AMCC.

If you enjoy that burn in the muscles or getting out of breath, as I do, you are not increasing the amount of your willpower and discipline in those moments.

What actually helps activate and increase your AMCC and with it, your willpower, is what Huberman calls microsucks and macrosucks.

Microsucks are all those little things that you don’t want to do during the day. Marcosucks are the larger projects and challenges you take on.

And this is where I get to feel proud for a moment.

I’ve been writing on the topic of discipline and willpower for years now. And all my insights came from personal experience rather than reading scientific literature. The first time I heard about AMCC was while listening to this podcast.

However, my experience-based insights perfectly align with what Dr. Huberman shared about this fascinating part of the brain and its role in our ability to get difficult things done. One of my earlier Existential Espresso essays stands out in this regard.

Last November, I wrote about 5 stupid but effective things I do to build discipline. I encourage you to read the full essay, but I’ll give you a brief overview here. For the record, I didn’t use the words “willpower,” “tenacity,” or “microsucks” (I wish I thought of that one), but it’s clear that I’m discussing the same thing as Huberman.

The things I do daily to build discipline are not necessarily the most impressive or objectively most difficult tasks. It’s those things that I don’t want to do. Small, seemingly unimportant things. That’s why I call them stupid but effective. But the more of these small things I can recognize and then do in a day, the more I'm building my "discipline muscle."

In the essay, I’m giving the example of going outside to buy bananas to add to my oatmeal. I don’t really need them. But when I thought about them, I noticed that my mind immediately started creating excuses for why I shouldn’t go out. That’s why I get ready and go outside to buy bananas. I am paying attention to my inner talk and challenging my weakness by doing what I’m trying to avoid.

A less weird example is choosing a workout that I least like to do, not the one that's most difficult physically. That’s because there are multiple workouts I could choose that are objectively challenging and intense, but I genuinely enjoy the feeling they give me. So it’s really not much of a test of my willpower and discipline to do them.

This aligns with Huberman saying that one of his microsucks is doing the dishes, and it tests his willpower and discipline more than his regular weight training and running.

There are workouts in my program that are less physically challenging, but I dread doing them. Usually because they involve movements that I consider boring. Those are the workouts that really test and develop my ability to do other difficult things, even when I don’t feel like doing them. Which brings me to another idea I’ve been talking about ever since I first started writing online almost 4 years ago.

We said before that AMCC is involved in generating willpower for all things, not just one situation.

Huberman explains that, when you regularly activate AMCC by doing things you don't want to do, “now you have this engine that is readily available for other difficult things.”

One of my very first online posts on discipline, more than 3 years ago, was based on what I've noticed in my own life. Discipline spreads.

You don’t become disciplined at one thing in your life, and then another one, and then another one.

When you engage in doing things that you would rather not do and you engage in them on a consistent daily basis, you are not disciplined at one or two things. You are a disciplined person. Discipline cannot help but spread.

Those who've been following my work for a while know that I've been repeating this message persistently over the years. And you can expect that I'll keep doing that.

If you work out every single day but can’t get yourself to sit and study for a couple of hours, or you can't take time out of your day to work on your side business, you are not a disciplined person. You just really enjoy working out. It’s an uncomfortable truth that most people would rather not face.

But if you do things that really test your willpower and discipline and, as we’ve learned, activate your AMCC, you are able to use those same resources for other difficult things. Real discipline cannot be limited to a single activity in your life.

So, rather than romanticizing certain activities as examples of discipline, we should all learn to notice the things that we don’t want to do. Because if you notice enough of those small things on a daily level and do them, you are increasing your willpower and discipline.

And I guess that’s the most important message we can take away from these findings about AMCC and the insights I’ve been sharing.

Pay attention to your inner voice and what it’s creating excuses for. That’s where you’ll find the best opportunities for increasing your willpower, discipline, and, hopefully, even your will to live.

Thank you for reading. I hope you found this one valuable.

Additional resources:

Modern Wisdom podcast with Andrew Huberman (the AMCC talk starts at 14:07)

Huberman Lab podcast on willpower and tenacity.

5 stupid but effective things I do to build discipline - microsucks.

Discipline spreads essay.

Also, one last reminder that if you purchase my book on mastering consistency, The Art of Showing Up, you will get free access to my workshop on Consistency and Goal-Setting on 11.29. as well as my other book, The Gold Pill.
*if you are not able to attend the workshop live you will have lifetime access to the recording.