Self-discipline can be externalized by physically constraining oneself

Evidence

But his deafened crew could not hear his pleas, and, as ordered, they only bound him tighter and rowed harder — until the island and its deadly song fell away behind them. Odysseus had heard the Sirens and survived, the only man ever to do so — not by being stronger than the temptation, but by being wise enough, in advance, to know he would be weak, and to bind himself against his own weakness before the moment of temptation came. — , A Year of World Stories, 14165 (#expands, via linked claim)

The essence of these tactics is some voluntary but irreversible sacrifice of freedom of choice. They rest on the paradox that the power to constrain an adversary may depend on the power to bind oneself; that, in bargaining, weakness is often strength, freedom may be freedom to capitulate, and to burn bridges behind one may suffice to undo an opponent. — Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, 60 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Binding oneself can paradoxically strengthen one’s bargaining position — Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, 60; Self-binding in advance defeats temptation that cannot be resisted at the moment — , A Year of World Stories, 14165; External surveillance becomes internalized self-discipline through dress choices (+4 more)

Related

• Self-binding as first move lets a present self control a future self (similarity 0.87)
• Self-binding in advance defeats temptation that cannot be resisted at the moment (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• Self-binding in advance defeats temptation that cannot be resisted at the moment #expands (0.90) — , A Year of World Stories, 14165
• Binding oneself can paradoxically strengthen one’s bargaining position #expands (0.85) — Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, 60
• Veiling and ritual bodily acts train the self into piety #exemplifies (0.80)
• External surveillance becomes internalized self-discipline through dress choices #exemplifies (0.75)