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How Micro-Discipline Compounds Into Elite Success | Andy Stumpf & Dr. Andrew Huberman

Huberman Lab Clips11:30Added Aug 31, 2026

Andy Stumpf and Dr. Andrew Huberman discuss the power of micro-discipline and explain how consistently choosing the "slightly harder" path builds the anterio...

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  1. Small Acts Of Discipline

  2. 00:00Every single decision that you have in
  3. 00:02front of you in your life will have a
  4. 00:03slightly easier and a slightly harder
  5. 00:04choice. Make the slightly harder one
  6. 00:06more often than the slightly easier one.
  7. 00:08And the thing I liked a lot about
  8. 00:10McCraven's messaging around the bed is
  9. 00:13that it started your day with an act a
  10. 00:15small act of discipline that could seem
  11. 00:17meaningless, but then what if you pair
  12. 00:19another small one with that and then
  13. 00:20another small one with that? I think
  14. 00:22that can really set you up for success
  15. 00:24in your day. And yes, at the end of the
  16. 00:26day, boom, your bed's ready to go and
  17. 00:27you can hop back into it. just feels
  18. 00:29better to get into a main bed.
  19. 00:31It took me a while to realize that most
  20. 00:33of the people that I could tell were
  21. 00:36really squared away in their jobs and
  22. 00:38because I happen to know their personal
  23. 00:40lives too. Also, their personal lives,
  24. 00:43they're pretty tidy people.
  25. 00:45Yeah.
  26. 00:45Uh whether by sheer will or by reflex,
  27. 00:49they're just pretty tidy.
  28. 00:50I don't think it's ever by reflex. I
  29. 00:52think it's always by always by will.
  30. 00:55And it's not fun. And I'm, don't get me
  31. 00:57wrong, I'm not I'm not perfect at it,
  32. 00:59but if I can look back at my lives or my
  33. 01:01life at times where things were
  34. 01:05a little bit less effort involved in and
  35. 01:09being successful or making traction, it
  36. 01:11wasn't in chaos. It was in a little bit
  37. 01:14more of a controlled environment by me
  38. 01:16again controlling what I can control,
  39. 01:17which is my actions in the morning. you
  40. 01:20know it if you sit down in front of a
  41. 01:22desk and you can't even find the thing
  42. 01:23that you're looking for to do the work
  43. 01:24on it how I don't know anybody who has
  44. 01:27become ultra successful in life with
  45. 01:29that model but I think we could both sit
  46. 01:31down and talk about some people who are
  47. 01:33nailing it and I think the vast majority
  48. 01:35of them would fall into that tidy
  49. 01:36category or disciplined category but
  50. 01:39it's micro discipline that can make it
  51. 01:41seem as if you have this macro
  52. 01:43discipline but that's not actually what

  53. Social Pressure To Be Average

  54. 01:44it is it's the little things that nobody
  55. 01:46sees that's what leads you to that end
  56. 01:48state
  57. 01:49it's interesting saying earlier we were
  58. 01:50talking about social pressure and um
  59. 01:52alcohol and social media. You know, it's
  60. 01:57interesting to me that there seems to be
  61. 02:00some degree of social pressure to not do
  62. 02:04the slightly harder thing. You know,
  63. 02:05like what what we're describing now. I I
  64. 02:08never get into uh thinking about what
  65. 02:09the comments would be, but I I'd be
  66. 02:12willing to bet one pinky that a fair
  67. 02:15number of people are either thinking or
  68. 02:18commenting directly. Yeah. Like that's
  69. 02:20really neurotic. Like, loosen up.
  70. 02:22Yeah. Take a picture of your [ __ ]
  71. 02:23room and send it to me. It looks like
  72. 02:25[ __ ] [laughter]
  73. 02:26Exactly. My dad's first generation
  74. 02:28immigrant from South America. And I'll
  75. 02:30never forget when uh in it was in the
  76. 02:32mid 90s,
  77. 02:34he probably took me to a movie in an
  78. 02:35attempt to repair our relationship and
  79. 02:37eventually it worked. Dad, we're doing
  80. 02:38great. [laughter] Talk to him today. I
  81. 02:39called him today. We're on such great

  82. Decline Of Public Standards

  83. 02:41terms. It feels good to be able to say
  84. 02:42it. And I'll never forget, we were at
  85. 02:44the movies and there were these people
  86. 02:46walking by and they were wearing kind of
  87. 02:48like um baggy sweats and flip-flops or
  88. 02:51something. And he stopped me and he's a
  89. 02:53very orderly guy and he said, "See that?
  90. 02:56That's the beginning of the end." And I
  91. 02:59said, 'What do you mean?' [laughter] And
  92. 03:00he said, I come from a third world
  93. 03:03country. When people start going into
  94. 03:05the movies in their pajamas, it's the
  95. 03:07beginning of the end. And I thought,
  96. 03:09this is like you couldn't be more out.
  97. 03:11He's I I actually think he's right. What
  98. 03:13he was talking about is that the the
  99. 03:15when the social pressure is not
  100. 03:17sufficient to like keep people feeling
  101. 03:19as if they need to show up as if they're
  102. 03:21in public. Yeah. Right. and he might
  103. 03:23have been a bit extreme but you know
  104. 03:24when when that social pressure isn't
  105. 03:25there then the social pressure
  106. 03:27eventually erodess around what people
  107. 03:29can say what they can do and then I do
  108. 03:30think that era of kind Jerry Springer
  109. 03:32daytime television where people would
  110. 03:34watch people who were way more screwed
  111. 03:36up than them so they could feel a lot
  112. 03:38less screwed up what's it called shouten
  113. 03:41fruit when you take pleasure in other
  114. 03:43people's pain
  115. 03:44yeah well I think that there's that's
  116. 03:46that's the word for it for sure but I
  117. 03:48think this is kind of adjacent to that
  118. 03:50where it's it's like giving yourself
  119. 03:52license to not feel that bad because
  120. 03:54like like either they're just so
  121. 03:57neurotic that I don't want anything to
  122. 03:58do with that kind of world where
  123. 03:59everything's right angles or like well
  124. 04:01at least I'm not in total squalor and
  125. 04:04this is where I think that you know we
  126. 04:06hear so much about oh everyone's
  127. 04:07presenting them bestel the their best
  128. 04:08selves on social media also a problem to
  129. 04:11seem perfect because no one's perfect
  130. 04:13but I do think that there is this drift
  131. 04:15where we go well like it's not going to
  132. 04:18crush my life of the toilet paper thing
  133. 04:20like if it were going to cost me my
  134. 04:21relationship or you know my allowance
  135. 04:23you know you guys might think about it
  136. 04:24differently right yeah but so I think
  137. 04:26but what I got from your book this this
  138. 04:28section of your book is that
  139. 04:30it's because the consequences are so
  140. 04:32small
  141. 04:33at the individual level but the upside
  142. 04:36is so big
  143. 04:37yes
  144. 04:38when you you know collect these things
  145. 04:40together that the real incentive to do
  146. 04:43the slightly harder thing is there
  147. 04:44I mean the toilet paper is not going to
  148. 04:46cost you your life if it does I'm going
  149. 04:47to need a case study on how that
  150. 04:48happened because I'm fascinated at this
  151. 04:50Right? But what if it the we'll call it
  152. 04:53what it is. Either the lack of
  153. 04:55discipline or the laziness in the moment
  154. 04:57changes the trajectory of your life
  155. 04:59because you apply that to everything in
  156. 05:01your life because that's how you start
  157. 05:04your day and how you end your day. I get
  158. 05:06it. People
  159. 05:07I I'll take a picture of my room and
  160. 05:09send it out. Guess what? It's not
  161. 05:10hospital corners on the bed and there's
  162. 05:12probably something in the corner. I'm
  163. 05:14not saying that I'm perfect in this, but
  164. 05:16it's not being neurotic.
  165. 05:19It's doing the work that nobody sees.
  166. 05:22And for the people who com, you know,
  167. 05:23say, "Oh, that's, you know, that seems
  168. 05:25too neurotic for me." Like, let's let's
  169. 05:27have a cup of coffee. Where do you want
  170. 05:29to be in your life? And where are you at
  171. 05:31in that journey? I would I'm fascinated
  172. 05:33by And then, like we were saying,
  173. 05:35internet's the best worst thing. People
  174. 05:38can find this conversation and then
  175. 05:41critique us to death and say that we're
  176. 05:42being neurotic. But I'd also love to
  177. 05:44connect with somebody and say, "Listen,
  178. 05:46why do you have your an allergic
  179. 05:48reaction to that particular statement?
  180. 05:50Is it because perhaps you're living it?
  181. 05:53And if you are, let's talk about the
  182. 05:55potential impact that it's having."
  183. 05:57Because again, I didn't create this. I'm

  184. How You Do Anything Is How You Do Everything

  185. 05:59passing along, you know, one of the
  186. 06:00mantras in the teams. How you do
  187. 06:02anything is how you do everything.
  188. 06:05there. There's so many stupid small
  189. 06:08things that you do specifically in
  190. 06:10training that have nothing to do with
  191. 06:13anything except doing the stupid small
  192. 06:15thing. That's that's it. I mean, you
  193. 06:19know, this the uh two-mile swim, you
  194. 06:21have a KBAR knife in one of your hands
  195. 06:23and a CO2 cartridge in another and
  196. 06:24you're wearing your life jacket and we
  197. 06:26are like got a jeweler's loop out
  198. 06:28looking at the, you know, the little uh
  199. 06:32twistin section of the CO2 cartridge.
  200. 06:34God help you if I find a grain of sand
  201. 06:36or a fleck of rust. Guess what? the
  202. 06:39jacket's still going to function even if
  203. 06:42both of those things still exist because
  204. 06:44it actually has nothing to do with the
  205. 06:45knurling of the CO2 cartridge and
  206. 06:48everything to do with I told you to have
  207. 06:51nothing in this to make sure it was
  208. 06:52basically brand new because you have to
  209. 06:55follow the procedure because the
  210. 06:57procedure is what's going to save your
  211. 06:58life. Can you even when you're exhausted
  212. 07:01and you don't want to and you have
  213. 07:02limited time do what I told you to do
  214. 07:05because of the impact that it'll have. I
  215. 07:06mean that exists in that community
  216. 07:09everywhere. So it's not me. I'm just
  217. 07:11telling you the most successful people
  218. 07:14that I have encountered are not becoming
  219. 07:17successful in chaos. Now of course there
  220. 07:20will be an uh somebody that can point to
  221. 07:22something and say well what about this
  222. 07:23person? I'm not saying that there's not
  223. 07:24a what do they call it? A white elephant
  224. 07:26or a black elephant whatever it may be.
  225. 07:28Does that scale? No it doesn't. So, if
  226. 07:32you're trying to replicate that, oh,
  227. 07:34they did it through chaos, so I'm going
  228. 07:35to as well. Live your life however you
  229. 07:36want to, but maybe you and I aren't
  230. 07:38being neurotic. Maybe we're just trying
  231. 07:40to help. Yeah. Uh, you said even when
  232. 07:42exhausted and limited uh in time, those
  233. 07:45are the two times when these little I
  234. 07:49guess I used to think about them as
  235. 07:50extras. I'm trying to start thinking
  236. 07:52about them as foundational. That's when
  237. 07:54they become really tough. It's when they
  238. 07:56matter the most though
  239. 07:58because if you I mean [laughter]
  240. 08:00it's like this toilet paper roll weighs
  241. 08:022,000 lbs. There's no way I can get it
  242. 08:04to the garbage of this tire. That's
  243. 08:05exactly like the days you don't want to
  244. 08:07work out. Those are the most important
  245. 08:08days. Even if you do less, the mental

  246. Neuroscience Of Doing Hard Things

  247. 08:11victory there in my mind at least, and
  248. 08:14I'm not an expert in any of this, far
  249. 08:15outweighs any of the physical aspect.
  250. 08:17It's the fact that you did and you
  251. 08:19didn't want to. If you stack that up
  252. 08:21over a lifetime, you're going to blow
  253. 08:23people away with what you can can
  254. 08:25accomplish.
  255. 08:26Yeah. And the uh generalizability of
  256. 08:29what you just described is definitely
  257. 08:31supported by science. People have
  258. 08:32perhaps heard me say this before, so
  259. 08:34I'll make it very brief, but there's
  260. 08:35this brain area, the anterior midsulate
  261. 08:37cortex, which most neuroscientists that
  262. 08:39teach neuro anatomy, including me,
  263. 08:41didn't know what it did until a few
  264. 08:42years ago. And a guy at Stanford, Joe
  265. 08:44Parveves, he's a neurosurgeon. He was
  266. 08:46stimulating this brain area and regions
  267. 08:48adjacent to it looking for epileptic
  268. 08:50fosi in a patient. That's how they find
  269. 08:52out where the where to burn out the
  270. 08:54seizure site and he's stimulating in the
  271. 08:57singulate cortex and then he gets to
  272. 08:58this anterior mids singlet cortex and in
  273. 09:00every patient where he taps this region
  274. 09:02electrically the person feels and
  275. 09:05reports I feel like there's a storm
  276. 09:07coming and I want to lean into it. I
  277. 09:10know I can go through it. Someone else
  278. 09:12might describe it as I feel like there's
  279. 09:14this like big thing about to happen but
  280. 09:17I I'm going to persevere. So is amazing
  281. 09:21right? So this anterior mids singulate
  282. 09:22cortex turns out hypertrophies well it
  283. 09:26grows in volume per maybe in number of
  284. 09:28connections etc number of neurons maybe
  285. 09:30but certainly grows in volume when
  286. 09:33people successfully diet when they take
  287. 09:35their existing exercise program and just
  288. 09:38add three 30 minute uh sessions of
  289. 09:40cardio. But here's the caveat. if they
  290. 09:43hate cardio. [laughter] If you love the
  291. 09:45ice bath, this your anterior mid
  292. 09:48singular cortex, which by the way
  293. 09:49predicts successful dieting, predicts
  294. 09:51successful completion of any of other
  295. 09:53hard things.
  296. 09:55All of that relates to whether or not
  297. 09:56the thing that you're introducing is
  298. 09:59something that you do not want to do in
  299. 10:01the moment that you do it. And so
  300. 10:03there's real science to this. Now,
  301. 10:04there's a long review that I can put a
  302. 10:05link to in the in the caption if people
  303. 10:07want to get into the science. So this is
  304. 10:08in human studies and it goes just on and
  305. 10:10on. So it's not the thing, it's the
  306. 10:13thing you don't want to do.
  307. 10:15Yeah.
  308. 10:15And so when people say, "I love working
  309. 10:17out and the final two reps of that set
  310. 10:19that teaches me how to be hard in life."
  311. 10:20You're like, "Do you like working out?"
  312. 10:22They're like, "Love it." And you're
  313. 10:22like, "Ah, it's not doing anything for
  314. 10:24your entering single cortex." So I think

  315. Key Trait Of Superagers

  316. 10:26this is very important science, which is
  317. 10:27why I keep bringing it up on multiple
  318. 10:28podcasts. And and I think the toilet
  319. 10:30paper roll. So your kids have this
  320. 10:31amazing opportunity.
  321. 10:33Uh other people have to uh
  322. 10:35I don't know do whatever. Um you know,
  323. 10:37they seem like very hard driving kids.
  324. 10:40um the way you describe them. Anyway, so
  325. 10:42it turns out that for them the the the
  326. 10:44toilet paper thing and no uh your dad
  327. 10:47didn't pay me to say this, the toilet
  328. 10:48paper thing turns out [laughter] to be
  329. 10:50the the route to anterior midsulate
  330. 10:53cortex growth which then translates to
  331. 10:56by the way growth of this structure is
  332. 10:59the defining feature of what are called
  333. 11:01superagers. bit of a misnomer because
  334. 11:03these are people who maintain cognitive
  335. 11:05ability and many of their physical
  336. 11:06abilities relative to their peers into
  337. 11:08their 80s and 90s.
  338. 11:09That makes sense.
  339. 11:10It's so it may even be related to the
  340. 11:13will to live. It may be the the tenacity
  341. 11:15structure in the brain which people who
  342. 11:18successfully push back against certain
  343. 11:20you know life confrontations and things
  344. 11:22and on and on.
  345. 11:27[music]