For giggles and kicks I decided to wander information on the internet and look up Latin phrases. My knowledge of Latin is limited. When the phrase of ‘vero oossumus,’ which means “yes we can,” jumped out at me I continued reading. One thing lead to another and I stumbled across The Ulysses Pact which comes from Greek mythology.
This is my version of The Ulysses Pact after reading several articles. Ulysses was heading back from the Trojan War when he came across the sirens. The Sirens where creatures who used their music and voices to lure nearby sailors to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island or jump to death. Ulysses very much wanted to hear the voices. Ulysses very much wanted to live. He came up with a solution to live and hear their enchanting voices. Ulysses told his men to tie him super securely so he could not escape. He told his men to put wax in their ears so they could not hear the singing or Ulysses begging to be set free as he was hearing the Sirens enchanting voices and music. Ulysses added that if he broke free his men where to attack him. Ulysses lived and was able to hear those incredible voices.
“Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can.” Arthur Ashe
Present day The Ulysses Pact applies to the goals we have set for ourselves, very much want to achieve them, experience challenges and barriers, and then struggle to keep on putting in the effort for achieving the goal. In “The Ulysses Pact: An Ancient Technique for Building Better Habits” by Nick Wagnali says “Psychologically, the Ulysses Pact works by acknowledging that human beings are often less than completely rational. Instead of bemoaning this fact of human nature, or stubbornly trying to willpower our way into good decisions in the face of immediate temptation, the Ulysses Pact exemplifies a more creative and clever approach to doing the right thing. Instead of hoping for good intentions to withstand the onslaught of immediate temptation, we build a system during times of rationality to ensure that those good intentions persist when our rationality inevitably goes on break.”
“A river cuts through rock not because of its power, but its persistence.” Jim Watkins
For all of us, myself included, it is never going to be a straight line, easy peasy towards completion of any goal we set. As we are work towards goals we build new habits and we are change our behaviors. Sometimes those old behaviors can call with a whole lot of temptation and try to lure us backwards, especially when we are feeling stressed, tired, or depleted. By being mindful that this will happen and having a plan in place when those Sirens show up you can plug your ears and stick the course to accomplish the goal you set for yourself. “How to use the Ulysses Contract to have your most productive week ever” by the Goal Engineer says “A Ulysses contract is a way of forcing yourself to accomplish a goal by anticipating the potential temptations that will make it hard to complete and establishing rules for yourself so that you don’t give up when it gets hard.”
“Today is the opportunity to build the tomorrow you want.” Ken Poirot
Magnificent human you can crush and achieve the goals you are working on to make you a healthier and happier you. Perhaps The Ulysses Pact can help you achieve them. Now that I have knowledge and understanding about The Ulysses Pact I am going to look at my personal goals with a new perspective to have some “Siren solutions” ready to use so when the path to achieving my goals gets bumpy and hard I continue moving forward to achieving them. Let’s crush our goals and defeat our Sirens!
May your Ulysses Pact be with you💜
Here is the link to the article by Nick Wagnali.
https://nickwignall.com/ulysses-pact/
Photo by Artiom Vallat on Unsplash
