A simple thought experiment for cultivating inner strength

If you had a personal devil, what would he tempt you with?

I’m not sure you read this carefully enough.

If you had a PERSONAL devil, what would he tempt YOU with?

Why is this a relevant question?

Because all of us tend to be too objective, to look at things too broadly, when we’re supposed to analyze our individual journey.

Consistency is good, procrastination is bad, waking up early is good, doomscrolling is bad, doing good things is good, doing bad things is bad… Not really a transformative revelation, right?

Sure, there are some objective facts about the things you should avoid and those that would help you — regardless of what your project or goal is. But those objective facts aren’t addressing the uniqueness of your journey.

This is where the personal devil comes into play.

The idea came to me while reading “The Screwtape Letters” by C. S. Lewis. This brilliant book takes the form of a series of letters from Screwtape, a senior devil, to his nephew Wormwood, a junior tempter tasked with corrupting the soul of the human he’s been assigned to.

Although the book discusses theological issues and universal human struggles, I was intrigued by the idea that Wormwood is following this one human and learning the specific context of his (internal and external) life in order to tempt and corrupt him more successfully.

It reminded me that even though most of our internal battles can be traced back to a few universal themes, we also have individual pitfalls that threaten to prevent us from living a meaningful and fulfilling life.

So, I asked myself,

“If I had a personal tempter, what thoughts would he be trying to implant in my mind? What ideas would he try to make me believe?”

For example, I know that my tempter would be wasting time and energy trying to convince me to stay in and get high instead of going out to explore the world and interact with humans. At this point in my life, there’s zero pull towards that type of escapism.

On the other hand, when I reflect on the discouraging thoughts I tend to have about my writing journey, I start thinking that I might really have a personal tempter.

Whether it’s the idea that I haven’t gotten any better after 6 years of consistent writing, or the convenient excuse that I need to research more instead of sitting down to write, there’s almost always a voice trying to pull me away from the work that needs doing.

Of course, this thought experiment shouldn’t be contained to your career or passion projects. I might discover that my personal tempter would notice it’s pointless to try to fill me with anger toward my loved ones, while strengthening my fear of commitment would be a more realistic goal.

How is this helpful?

If you take the time to ask this question, think, and answer honestly, you can experience a newfound inner strength. Once you’ve identified these personally relevant temptations, you’re way more likely to catch them as they come up in your day, identify them for what they are — false ideas, and move on.

It should go without saying that it doesn’t matter whether you actually believe in the devil or not for this to work. Therefore, no specific religious belief is required (nor is it discouraged). However, there is a different prerequisite: courage.

There is no doubt that you have a level of self-awareness high enough to ask yourself these questions and arrive at relevant answers. But acknowledging this requires courage. That’s because finding out something about yourself implies the responsibility to act on the new insights. And most people will do anything to avoid responsibility.

So, the question is whether you’ll choose courage or fear.

If you choose the former, which I believe you will, then I suggest you take a pen and piece of paper and ask,

“If I had a personal tempter, what thoughts would he be trying to implant in my mind? What ideas would he try to make me believe? What things would he try to tell me to prevent me from becoming the best, most complete human I can be?”

Thank you for reading.

P.S. I’m running a free live workshop on June 28th where I’ll be sharing my journey of reducing the gap between knowing what I need to do and doing it. Click here to sign up if interested.