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Difference Between Willpower & Discipline | Ido Portal & Dr. Andrew Huberman

Huberman Lab Clips08:23Added Aug 31, 2026

Ido Portal and Dr. Andrew Huberman discuss the distinction between discipline and willpower, highlighting a specific practice for building "the will" by enga...

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Contributed by 刘嘉琪

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  1. Will vs Discipline

  2. 00:00willpower, the expression of the will
  3. 00:02and then discipline. Maybe we can define
  4. 00:05the difference a little bit more so that
  5. 00:08I can understand
  6. 00:11when I'm in
  7. 00:13discipline mode versus um exposing
  8. 00:17willpower. You said you can build
  9. 00:18discipline, you can't build the will.
  10. 00:20The will is a is a fixed unit
  11. 00:23but a hidden one, a very elusive one.
  12. 00:26[snorts]
  13. 00:27uh we can discuss it more and we will
  14. 00:30expose some things but we will not be
  15. 00:31successful in a binary fashion. We won't
  16. 00:34get it. The only way to get even a
  17. 00:38critical mess with that concept is self
  18. 00:41practice
  19. 00:43looking for that quality in your life.
  20. 00:45And I already mentioned that the first
  21. 00:47requirement is to do things you don't
  22. 00:50want to do which you're also a big
  23. 00:52believer in from a variety of reasons.
  24. 00:57All of them are not as important as this
  25. 01:00because they go to serve this layer,
  26. 01:03this corrupted self, this success in
  27. 01:06this area. This is not important. What
  28. 01:09is important is you not all those
  29. 01:12things. And will is actually that
  30. 01:16representation of you. The totality,
  31. 01:20the harmonious combination of all that
  32. 01:23you are comes together and hence you can
  33. 01:25be reliable. You have a sequence. You
  34. 01:30found a way. You cannot push this

  35. How to Practice Your Will

  36. 01:33forward. You cannot force this. So you
  37. 01:36need first a situation which you cannot
  38. 01:38you don't want to do. So I tell people
  39. 01:41here is the first requirement of this
  40. 01:43new practice practice of will.
  41. 01:47You have to wait for a moment. You don't
  42. 01:48want to do the task. That's the first
  43. 01:50thing. Not to go to the ice bath. Now,
  44. 01:55this is a different process and will get
  45. 01:56you somewhere else. Come up with a task
  46. 02:01that only sometimes you don't want to
  47. 02:04do. It's a crucial difference and wait
  48. 02:07for that moment. In that moment, catch
  49. 02:10yourself. And there you have to
  50. 02:12investigate. There there is a very fine
  51. 02:15little game. It comes back to that
  52. 02:18playfulness that we have to play. Do not
  53. 02:21force into it. Don't jailbreak it. Don't
  54. 02:26push hard into it. Second problem, do
  55. 02:30not motivate yourself to do it. Don't
  56. 02:32put any YouTube clips. Don't mention
  57. 02:34slogans.

  58. Importance of Relaxation

  59. 02:37Relax yourself.
  60. 02:39Essential component. Do not rigidify in
  61. 02:43front of the task. If you do, lower the
  62. 02:45bar. Find the task that has this right
  63. 02:48dosage and build up gradually and
  64. 02:50slowly. I like to use things like
  65. 02:53difficult physical postures.
  66. 02:57Like holding your arms out for 5
  67. 02:59minutes, it's enough. Just straight arms
  68. 03:01out. Some people can take it further or
  69. 03:06three minutes or doing a horse stance
  70. 03:09and then wait for a critical moment when
  71. 03:12I'm tired. A lot of these things are
  72. 03:14very useful. So I've grown to practice
  73. 03:16those things before I at the end of the
  74. 03:20day when I'm checking out that is the
  75. 03:22moment where I bring it about. And then
  76. 03:25you have to research and you have to
  77. 03:27find a thread, a way to get this going
  78. 03:32again and again and again with this
  79. 03:34gentle quality, this playfulness, this
  80. 03:36softness and slowly increase the bar.
  81. 03:40What will you discover? Your will is
  82. 03:42sufficient is like a mosquito's fart.
  83. 03:46That's the power of our will. Even
  84. 03:48incredibly powerful people because they
  85. 03:51only use discipline. So their will is
  86. 03:53totally they don't know how to identify
  87. 03:55it. They don't know how to put it
  88. 03:56together. So you got to do stuff that is
  89. 03:59so easy relatively easy that you're not
  90. 04:03interested in doing it. And that's why
  91. 04:04we don't develop will. So these are some
  92. 04:08of the discoveries that I I had with
  93. 04:10myself and trying to bring about this
  94. 04:13quality because like you I did a lot of
  95. 04:15stuff with powering through. I think the
  96. 04:18value of a physical practice um is
  97. 04:22probably obvious to people or more
  98. 04:23intuitive like okay um for some people
  99. 04:27ex exercise working out movement
  100. 04:29practice perhaps there'll be days when
  101. 04:32they want to do it there'll be days when
  102. 04:33they don't want to do it if I understand

  103. Navigating the Resistance Edge

  104. 04:35correctly
  105. 04:37the idea is to get right up to that edge
  106. 04:41and then instead of throwing oneself
  107. 04:44across that threshold or getting enough
  108. 04:46caffeine in yourself to get across cross
  109. 04:48that threshold or doing hyper cyclic
  110. 04:50hyperventilation, breathing to get all
  111. 04:52the things to kick up adrenaline. You're
  112. 04:55talking about getting right there,
  113. 04:57relaxing and almost letting yourself
  114. 04:59sort of drift across, but am I pushing a
  115. 05:03little bit? Am I giving myself a nudge
  116. 05:05like to keep going? Okay. So, I don't
  117. 05:07expect myself to just default into it.
  118. 05:09Okay. Do you still have to do that? I
  119. 05:11mean, you've been doing movement
  120. 05:12practice many years. Are there days when
  121. 05:15you feel that resistance and you have to
  122. 05:18kind of nudge yourself?
  123. 05:19Of course, if I don't feel the
  124. 05:21resistance, I don't have will. I don't
  125. 05:23develop will and I don't have will. The
  126. 05:26whole point of will is that it only
  127. 05:28comes to visit and it's only necessary
  128. 05:30when there is a resistance.
  129. 05:32So, you see those as opportunities
  130. 05:34as well.
  131. 05:34Mhm.
  132. 05:35As well. But this is this is the trick.
  133. 05:37But the to answer your question, my
  134. 05:39answer might be a bit trickier than what
  135. 05:42most people assume.
  136. 05:44They want the remove of the the removal
  137. 05:47of the problem. And will that's the
  138. 05:50whole point of will,
  139. 05:51right?
  140. 05:52Not to remove the problem and not to
  141. 05:54also jailbreak it.
  142. 05:57And you've described it beautifully.
  143. 06:00And imagine even that clip that you saw
  144. 06:04or over the last years things that you
  145. 06:06saw me you see me do, they're not
  146. 06:09impressive anymore.
  147. 06:11[snorts]
  148. 06:11I can still kick up here and do a one-
  149. 06:13arm handstand in the center of the room.
  150. 06:16My body looks different by choice. And
  151. 06:19how I move is different because I
  152. 06:21discovered this is not going anywhere.
  153. 06:25I've already been there. I've already
  154. 06:28done that. I've used motivation,
  155. 06:31discipline, this quality. I'm looking
  156. 06:34for something much more powerful, but
  157. 06:37much more gentle as well. So I had to go
  158. 06:39back to baby steps and to play that game
  159. 06:44that you you just mentioned beautifully
  160. 06:46the edge stand at the edge
  161. 06:50and it has to be an edge. You're almost
  162. 06:52not sure if you choose that task whether
  163. 06:55it's difficult enough or not. It's not
  164. 06:57the only practice. It's just another
  165. 07:00flavor that is important for us to
  166. 07:01practice. I still practice my
  167. 07:03discipline. And I still practice
  168. 07:04extremely difficult things. But it's an
  169. 07:07important flavor that I missed.
  170. 07:09Mhm. [clears throat]
  171. 07:10And I think most people are missing it.
  172. 07:12They have no interest in doing it. It's
  173. 07:15too easy. They don't understand the

  174. Developing Internal Reliability

  175. 07:17point is not in the task at all. The
  176. 07:20point is is in the quality that
  177. 07:22develops, the attribute that develops
  178. 07:23inside of us, which is one of the most
  179. 07:25important basic attributes. I want to
  180. 07:28know when I'm going to war with you,
  181. 07:31whatever war that is, that you're
  182. 07:33reliable to have a word.
  183. 07:37And that cannot rely on caffeine or on
  184. 07:41on discipline. And and you can play this
  185. 07:43game. I'm right now extremely
  186. 07:45jet-lagged. So I'm I'm very tired. So I
  187. 07:48play this game with myself. I I have
  188. 07:51this little internal smile here in my
  189. 07:54jaw inside. I I I play I pay attention
  190. 07:59to what is going on in the internal
  191. 08:00realm, this interceptive thing and I
  192. 08:04play a game. Before I used to kind of
  193. 08:07push against it, harden against it and
  194. 08:09push through whatever needs to be done.
  195. 08:12And he saw this way of practicing taught
  196. 08:14me a lot.
  197. 08:22[music]