After the Trojan War, Odysseus led his crew home. Along the way, they had to pass through dangerous waters.
The Sirens lived there. Their songs were so alluring that sailors who heard them would lose their senses, steer toward the rocks, and ultimately wreck their ships and perish.
Forewarned by the goddess Circe, Odysseus came up with a clever plan:
Plug the sailors’ ears: He had every crew member fill their ears with beeswax so they wouldn’t hear the Sirens’ song.
Tie himself to the mast: He wanted to hear the legendary song with his own ears, but didn’t want to die because of it.
Give strict orders in advance: No matter how much he struggled or begged, the crew must not untie him—instead, they had to tie him even tighter.
As the ship sailed past the Sirens’ waters, Odysseus was indeed enchanted by their song and desperately begged the crew to release him.
But the crew couldn’t hear the song and didn’t obey his orders in the heat of the moment. In the end, they made it safely through the dangerous waters.
True self-discipline isn’t about trusting your willpower in the face of temptation. It’s about setting up rules to restrain yourself while your mind is still clear.
The truly skilled aren’t immune to temptation. They know how to put safeguards in place ahead of time, so that even when temptation strikes, they can’t easily make the wrong choice.
The Sirens lived there. Their songs were so alluring that sailors who heard them would lose their senses, steer toward the rocks, and ultimately wreck their ships and perish.
Forewarned by the goddess Circe, Odysseus came up with a clever plan:
Plug the sailors’ ears: He had every crew member fill their ears with beeswax so they wouldn’t hear the Sirens’ song.
Tie himself to the mast: He wanted to hear the legendary song with his own ears, but didn’t want to die because of it.
Give strict orders in advance: No matter how much he struggled or begged, the crew must not untie him—instead, they had to tie him even tighter.
As the ship sailed past the Sirens’ waters, Odysseus was indeed enchanted by their song and desperately begged the crew to release him.
But the crew couldn’t hear the song and didn’t obey his orders in the heat of the moment. In the end, they made it safely through the dangerous waters.
True self-discipline isn’t about trusting your willpower in the face of temptation. It’s about setting up rules to restrain yourself while your mind is still clear.
The truly skilled aren’t immune to temptation. They know how to put safeguards in place ahead of time, so that even when temptation strikes, they can’t easily make the wrong choice.