How to save yourself from the Devil’s whisper?
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The beeping of my alarm clock woke me up at 4.55 a.m. The words of motivation that I’d heard the night before had pushed me to join the 5 a.m club. Just when I woke up I heard the devil’s whisper —
Don’t get up, its too cold!
I took a second to analyze my surroundings and I realized that it was actually too cold. But, I had no intention of missing my first 5 a.m morning! So I forcefully dragged myself out of bed. Just as I left the room I heard the devil’s whisper —
What will you do waking up early? You don’t have a plan! Sleep now, you can join the 5 a.m club tomorrow.
I didn’t have a plan. I was so focussed on getting up early that I had no time to plan what I’d do after waking up. But, I convinced myself to write a Medium post and be a part of the 5 a.m club. As soon as I opened up my laptop to write, I heard the devil’s whisper —
You have never written before! Why are you to wasting time instead of sleeping?
It did made sense. I was no writer! I decided to close my laptop, throw away my membership of the 5 a.m club and get back to bed.
This was the account of one of many days where the devil’s whisper commanded power over me.
For the uninitiated, I use ‘devil’s whisper’ to refer to that negative voice that resides in all of us and, doubts our actions and questions our capabilities.
Here are a few ways that we can use to save themselves from the devil’s whisper —
- Don’t think about what the devil whispers!
When the negative voice inside us tells us something, the worst thing we can do is think about it. The instant we think about it, our mind begins to convince itself of our thought.
Ex — If your negative voice tells you that you are not smart enough and you avoid thinking about it, the thought ends there and the negative voice can’t use it anymore.
The mind is a mirror, if you think about what the devil whispers, you are off to a good start in believing it.
- Have a plan.
The negative voice in your head is smarter than you think. It will definitely use the lack of plan as a reason for you to stop what you are doing.
Ex — If you sit down to write a Medium post and your negative voice tells you that you haven’t thought of a topic to write about, your mind begins to look for topics to write about. The presence of predefined topics to write about, dismisses the devil’s whisper!
The mind is a child, if the devil’s whisper proves the lacking of a plan, your mind will give up!
- Practise.
The negative voice is extremely powerful, until you become powerful yourself. If you want to become powerful, exert power in each of your interactions with the negative voice.
Ex — If your negative voice tells you that you can’t get up early in the morning and you have been getting up early consistently, then your mind has no incentive to listen to the negative voice.
The mind is a follower, it follows the powerful. If the devil’s whisper is more powerful than you, then your mind is likely to go against your will. The more you restrain it from going against your will, the more powerful you become!
Well, there you have it! Next time you hear the devil’s whisper, I hope that these points will help you save yourself.
