Ulysses Contract: Make things happen

Is there some practical way to stick to our intended actions? Or to quit a habit you know you should but can’t? Every single one of us has struggled with these quests at some part of our lives.

That craving of sleeping one more hour, that one more episode of the new crime thriller on Netflix or the craving of one more sip of that drink which you know you should not; all these memories haunt us. How helpless do we feel after doing that act? Yeah, it’s hard. And just willpower doesn’t seem to work for us. So, what can we do more to do what we want and not do what we don’t want?

Turns out, one of the most practical techniques we can use is the Ulysses contract. Now although I wouldn’t dive in much about the history or the mythology. But to quickly set up the background; in Greek mythology, Ulysses a hero voyaging with fellow men had known about a group of monsters, known as ‘the Sirens.’ These Sirens had a speciality of playing music so enchanting that for the sailors they would seem like beautiful women. Nonetheless, to say, the real motive of these monsters was to kill them.

Ulysses made his crew members wear wax plugs when they got near the island. But he knew that he himself had a weak spot for this enchanting music and the women. So, he made his crew tie him up to the mast with his ears open.

And boy! When the Sirens began their music; Ulysses tried to rip himself apart from the mast in order to go to the Sirens. His will was not in his control but the ropes held him in his place. The more he tried to move, the deeper the ropes cut into his flesh. Finally, the sailors rowed away from the island and Ulysses came back to his senses without doing what he didn’t intend to do!

We all have our own versions of Sirens, don’t we? Some of us are called by the bed, the party, that extra beer and so on. We almost know, that we shouldn’t go for that surge of instant gratification but turns out mere knowledge does not generate enough willpower or action to stop us.

Ulysses knew this. His mental strength could give way. So he deliberately asked his fellow men to tie him up tightly. The takeaway here? You also need an external push.

Say you want to jog 20 minutes every morning in the day but can’t get yourself to it. Then instead of keeping the goal to the mercy of your willpower, you can ask a friend or companion of yours who jogs to make your report to them every day. This can definitely create a little external pressure on you to go out!

But well, turns out you eventually give up on the embarrassment of reporting to your friend. What’s the antidote now? Level up! Make a public announcement or put up an Instagram status, stating that you’d jog and upload the proof. Now that’s bound to put real pressure on you! Remember Ulysses asked his crew to tie him by strong, hostile ropes and not by some smooth satin robe!

The Ulysses Contract can be applied to many other activities and in various ways. Want to read more without being distracted by social media? Ask your neighbour or family member to unplug and take away the Wi-Fi router with them for 3 hours or simply lock the router in the cupboard and give the keys away.

Getting up late, snoozing alarm every day? Promise an amount of 20 bucks to your accountability partner, even better hand over a cheque and ask them to deposit it every time you fail to report back to them on time.

By now, I am sure it would have triggered your mind to something on these lines!

The question that arises is: Is this tyrannical?

While it may seem that we are handing out our controls into the hands of others, we should be aware that it is us who are voluntarily choosing it for our own good. That makes it decisively non-tyrannical.

Ulysses himself asked to be tied to the mast, his comrades didn’t loath their own wishes against him. It’s your call. You chose them for yourself. The Ulysses contract ensures that you choose it for yourself and is an antidote for your lack of control.

So what type of Ulysses contract do you want to make? Have you thought of an accountability partner? Or are you so brave that you’d like to state your contract in the comments!?