Have you sold your sold? It’s quite a confronting question and one you might not really know the answer to. When we say ‘sold your soul,’ we don’t actually mean making a pact with the devil, although that could be the case. Legendary blues player Robert Johnson was said to have made a Faustian bargain with the devil to become the greatest blues guitarist in the world. While this tale is fictional, there are real signs you’ve sold your soul to the highest bidder. These deal more with the way you have lived your life and the choices you’ve made than any dodgy backroom deal with the fella below.
What Does It Mean To Sell Your Soul?
While the tale of Robert Johnson is one way to illustrate the phrase ‘you’ve sold your sold,’ there are other ways to explain its meaning. Many people are called sellouts because they are said to compromise their beliefs for fame and fortune. This is often the case when it comes to musicians. Fans love them when they are underground, but as soon as they get popular they say they have sold their soul for success. Metallica was called a sellout when The Black Album was a hit. Maroon 5 was put in the same boat. Even great progressive rockers Tool were called sellouts, so they wrote a song about it.
This article is looking at the concept of selling your soul as a metaphor for betraying your values. Throughout life, we are often faced with tough choices. Decisions that may go against our true beliefs. Maybe you are offered a job with a company you know is bad but the money is too good to pass up? Or maybe you’ve done the dirty on your partner and instead of telling them, you cover things up? These are signs you’ve sold your soul, in a metaphorical sense.
If you’re religious, the soul is the essence of our humanity. A pure and virtuous entity that goes to heaven when you die, or to hell with the devil if you’ve lived a rotten life. Your soul is essentially what makes you a good person. If you are acting out and not being a decent human, you are effectively selling your soul to the devil. While it should be easy to know when you are doing wrong, some people need a little help. So read on to discover 12 signs you’ve sold your soul to the devil and how you can go about getting it back.
12 Signs You’ve Sold Your Soul
1. You’ve Become Egotistical
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The Skyhooks once sang “Ego is not a dirty word,” but that’s not entirely true. When you start to believe your own hype, you are headed for disaster. A sure-fire sign you’ve sold your soul is when you act better than everyone else. If you allow other people’s positive opinions of you to cloud your judgment, you’ll soon be drinking your own bathwater. You have to be prepared to take criticism and be humble. Understand you are no better or worse than anyone else. This also extends to treating people with respect. As soon as your ego grows, so do your chances of being a prick. Stay humble.
2. You Feel Guilty
Guilt is a heavy emotion. It can cause your mental health to spiral and can be a real burden. This is especially true when it is a response to something wrong you have done. Be that cheating on a romantic partner, saying something nasty to a friend, or bullying someone in the workplace. Guilt can be a horrible emotion to deal with. It often makes you feel bad about yourself and the choices you have made. It is a reflection of who you are and the wrong you have done. This is another big sign that you have sold your soul.
3. You’ve Compromised Your Values
As stated earlier, if you chase fame and fortune by abandoning what really matters, you are likely headed for a date with the devil. These are clear signs you’ve sold your soul. In the social media-centric world we live in, it is very easy to throw away your values for something fake. This could be anything from taking a job with a company that doesn’t have the same moral values as you or sleeping with someone you don’t care for. If you are willing to step over others for your own gain and gratification, you definitely need to reassess your priorities in life. You will never find true happiness. Material things and pleasures of the flesh won’t fuel your soul.
4. You’ve Lost Self-Respect
It’s easy to lose respect for yourself. If you are doing things you know are wrong, it will impact your self-respect. Being unkind to others and criticizing them might make you feel good at the time, but this feeling will quickly fade. You will feel guilty and upset and this will impact your self-respect. If you don’t have respect for yourself, how can you expect other people to respect you?
This also extends to low self-esteem. If you don’t feel great about yourself, be that how you act or your actual physical appearance, this will have a negative impact on your self-esteem. You need to be happy with who you are and where you are at in life. Appreciate what you have.
5. You Think Negative
This is another sign that you’ve sold your soul. While thinking negative thoughts is fine, it’s when you focus on these thoughts that life gets dark. If you have a negative mindset every morning you wake up, this will have a major effect on your day. Not only will your demeanor be off-putting, but you will always see the worst in everything that comes your way. All your hopes and dreams will crumble in front of you and you will start to think life isn’t fair. This could put even darker thoughts in your mind.
If you need some help to break your negative thinking, the great man Tony Robbins has some great advice. He always delivers and can help you identify the signs you’ve sold your soul and how to get it back.
6. You Lack Joy
Similar to thinking negatively, if you find your day-to-day life joyless, this doesn’t bod well for your human soul. Life is a wonderful thing, but it can also be extremely hard and challenging. Like the great poet 50 Cent once rapped, “Death gotta be easy cause life is hard.” But even when you are taking your licks, you have to be able to look on the bright side of life. There is a silver lining under every dark storm cloud. Even if it’s only small things, like that first coffee in the morning or your walk to work. Make the most of these moments. You will soon start to find joy in other aspects of your life and before you know it you’ll be loving every minute of the day.
7. You’re Obsessed With the Trinity of Satisfaction
Money, power, and sex form the trinity of satisfaction. Using another fantastic movie quote to detail this point, Tony Montana in Scarface explains, “you gotta make the money first, then when you get the money you get the power, then when you get the power, then you get the woman.” While it sounds like a simple plan and a great way to live your life, we all know what happened to poor old Tony.
If you spend your life chasing power, greed, and lust over everything else, you are sure to leave a trail of destruction in your path. You will be required to step on others and take them down, which is not the way you want to live your life. Be mindful of becoming trapped in this type of life.
8. You Love Drama
If you revel in drama and controversy you need to have a good look at yourself. People who enjoy conflict and hurting people for their own pleasure are not nice people. Exploiting other people’s situations or trauma to make yourself look or feel better is another sign you’ve figuratively sold your soul to the devil. It might provide some excitement in your life, but this will quickly fade, and not only will you feel like shit, but quite possibly lose friends in the proce3ss.
You need to have empathy for others. Instead of creating a scene, talk to them one on one if there is a real problem. Discuss things in a safe environment and do so in a calm manner that isn’t negative.
9. You Take Advantage of Others
Manipulating others and using them is a horrible thing to do. It’s just plain wrong. Not only are you making other people feel bad, but you are creating an image of yourself that is negative. Friends and family will soon desert you and want nothing to do with you. And fair enough. You can’t expect people to have your back when you don’t have theirs.
Exploiting people for your own gain is just another sign you’ve sold your soul to the devil. You are not being a good person and it won’t take long before people discover the type of human being you really are.
10. You Break the Law
Now we all make mistakes, and for some, this can end up in prison time. Not everyone who breaks the law is necessarily evil or a bad person. There are hundreds of reasons why people break the law. This sign applies more to those who do so willingly and put others at risk. Drug dealers, murderers, abusers, and those types of people who break the law deserve what comes to them.
If you willingly break the law there is certainly a high chance you will find yourself going to hell for a meeting with the devil. It is easy to say don’t break the law, but it often depends on circumstances and fate. Some people grow up surrounded by crime or are pressured into breaking the law, especially as teenagers. It is up to you to buck the trend and sort your life out so you live by the laws.
11. You’re Selfish
We are all a little selfish at times, but if it is an overriding aspect of your personality, then things need to change. When you are selfish you put yourself above anyone and everything. It’s all about looking after number one, no matter how this impacts other people around you. Selfish people end up neglecting friends and family and can create divisions with those close to them because they are so self-absorbed.
It doesn’t take much to change this behavior. Think of the impact your decisions might have on others and let that guide you. Be more attentive and informed about the way you live your life.
12. You’re Disloyal
Keep your word. If you promise to do something, do it. Go through with what you say to your friends and family. If you start promising people the world and never go through with it, they will soon lose trust in you. You will get a reputation as a liar and someone not to be trusted. It’s true that actions speak louder than words. So show that you are a person of integrity who does what they say. Otherwise, you might find your soul being sold to the highest bidder.