Mark: Most self-help tells you that ‘know thyself’ is the answer. What if that's a trap? What if understanding why you're stuck is the very thing keeping you stuck? Michelle: Hold on, that’s a bold claim. You're saying my endless journaling and deep dives into my childhood are actually counterproductive? Mark: Today, we explore a radical idea that suggests exactly that. You don't need more insight, you need weapons. Michelle: Weapons? Okay, I'm intrigued. What are we fighting? Mark: We're fighting for our own lives, according to the book we’re diving into today: The Tools: 5 Tools to Help You Find Courage, Creativity, and Willpower by Phil Stutz and Barry Michels. Michelle: Ah, these are the guys! I’ve heard about them. Aren't they known as Hollywood's best-kept secret? The therapists that top actors, writers, and executives go to when they're creatively blocked or totally burnt out. Mark: Exactly. And their backgrounds are just as interesting as their client list. Stutz worked as a prison psychiatrist on Rikers Island, and Michels was a high-flying lawyer before a spiritual awakening in Europe led him to psychotherapy. They’re not coming at this from a typical, sterile, academic angle. They believe we're in a fight. Michelle: A fight against what, exactly? My to-do list? My inbox? Because some days, that feels like a full-blown war. Mark: Something much bigger, and much more personal. They argue we're all in a constant, invisible war against an inner enemy. And the first step to winning is to know who you're up against.

Michelle: An inner enemy? That sounds dramatic. Most therapy talks about inner children or shadow selves. An 'enemy' sounds so… adversarial. Mark: That’s the entire point. Stutz and Michels argue that for too long, we've been told to negotiate with or understand our problems. They say that's like trying to have a polite chat with a home invader. They call this enemy 'Part X'. Michelle: 'Part X'. Okay, that sounds like a villain from a comic book. Why give it a name? Is this just a branding exercise? Mark: It's a strategic move. Naming it externalizes it. It’s not you who is lazy or anxious or self-destructive. It’s Part X launching an attack on you. It’s a universal, irrational force built into every human that is dedicated to one thing: stopping your evolution. Its only goal is to make you feel small, limited, and joyless. Michelle: Huh. I can see how that would be a powerful reframe. The idea that you're not broken, you're just under attack... that's actually incredibly empowering. So this Part X, is it that nagging voice in your head that tells you to eat the whole pint of ice cream or to hit snooze for the fifth time? Mark: It's exactly that, but it's also more profound. It's the force that whispers you're not good enough in a job interview. It's the wave of procrastination that washes over you when you face a big project. It's the sudden, inexplicable urge to pick a fight with someone you love. The authors believe that to access our full potential—what they call the 'Life Force'—we first have to recognize that Part X is the gatekeeper, constantly trying to block our way. Michelle: The 'Life Force'? Okay, now we're getting into some cosmic territory. What is that? Mark: Think of it as the source of all growth, creativity, and vitality. It's that feeling of being truly, fully alive. Stutz tells this amazing story from his college days. He was a basketball player, but he was undersized and mostly rode the bench. He felt useless. But instead of sulking, he started becoming the most enthusiastic guy on the sidelines—screaming encouragement, calling out plays, hyping up his teammates. Michelle: The human hype machine. Mark: Precisely. And he noticed something incredible. His energy was infectious. The players on the court played better. The team's morale lifted. He realized that even from the bench, he could tap into this force that inspired others and, in turn, made him feel more alive than he ever did just waiting for his chance to play. That, he says, is a taste of the Life Force. Michelle: I like that. It’s not some abstract concept; it’s a feeling, an energy you can generate and share. But if this Life Force is so great, and Part X is so bad, why does Part X win so often? Why do we get stuck? Mark: Because enthusiasm isn't enough. This was a hard lesson for Stutz. Early in his career, he had a patient, a man with severe erectile dysfunction. The man was desperate; he wanted to marry his girlfriend but was terrified. Stutz, full of youthful energy, basically poured his own enthusiasm into the patient. And for a while, it worked! The guy’s problem vanished. He bought a ring, he was ready to propose. Michelle: A miracle cure! Mark: Not quite. A few weeks later, the problem came roaring back, worse than before. The patient was furious. He accused Stutz of being a good salesman but a terrible doctor. He said, "You got me excited, but you didn't teach me how to deal with the force that was pulling me back down." That was the moment Stutz realized there was a powerful, active adversary—Part X—and that just feeling good wasn't a sustainable strategy against it. Michelle: Wow. So you can't just outrun Part X with positive thinking. It will always catch up. That’s… a little terrifying. Mark: It is. Part X’s primary mission is to make you feel that change is impossible. It takes a normal problem, like Joan, a young soccer player with anxiety about leaving home, and it expands it. First, she's afraid of sleepovers. Then Part X whispers that her anxiety means she's not tough enough for the travel team. Soon, she's playing passively on the field, afraid of getting hurt. A single problem metastasizes until her whole future feels impossible. Michelle: Okay, so we've identified the enemy. It's this relentless, life-draining force called Part X. If positive thinking and even a therapist's enthusiasm can't beat it, how on earth do you fight back? You can't just tell Part X to go away. Mark: You can't. And that's the core of the whole book. You don't think your way out of a Part X attack. You need to do something. You need a Tool.

Michelle: A Tool. So we're moving from diagnosis to the arsenal. What does a 'Tool' look like in this context? Is it a mantra? A breathing exercise? Mark: It’s more like a quick, potent visualization that you use in the heat of the moment. It’s a practice designed to bridge the gap between knowing you should do something and actually doing it. And the first one they introduce is for tackling one of Part X's favorite weapons: our impulses. The tool is called The Black Sun. Michelle: The Black Sun. The names in this book are certainly memorable. It sounds like something from a fantasy novel. What does it do? Mark: It's designed to combat the self-indulgence that drains our energy and destroys our future. Part X convinces us that deprivation is intolerable. That we need that extra drink, that online shopping spree, that hour of mindless scrolling. We think it's a small thing, but the authors argue that every time we give in, we're making a tiny withdrawal from our life-force account. Do it enough, and you go bankrupt. Michelle: I think my life-force account is perpetually overdrawn. So how does this Black Sun help? Give me a concrete example. Mark: The book gives this perfect, gut-wrenching story of a family in crisis. Marty and Susan. They come to therapy because their teenage daughter, Ashley, is a shopaholic. But within minutes, it's clear the whole family is run by unchecked impulses. Susan is a secret binge-eater. Marty has a volcanic temper and a hidden gambling problem. They're screaming at each other, blaming everyone but themselves. Michelle: That sounds incredibly stressful. A house full of Part X. Mark: Exactly. And their kids are soaking it up. Their son, Chad, who was a straight-A student, starts failing because he's addicted to video games. The therapist tells Marty, "Your daughter isn't the problem. The problem is that no one in this house knows how to say 'no' to themselves. You can't teach her self-control until you have it yourself." Michelle: Oof. That's a hard truth. So what does Marty do? Mark: He starts individual therapy and learns the Black Sun tool. The next time he feels that surge of rage at his son or the pull of a gambling website, he uses it. Michelle: Okay, walk me through it. What does he actually do in that moment of rage? Is he closing his eyes and meditating while his son is talking back? Mark: It's faster than that. It’s a four-step internal process. First, you feel the impulse—the craving, the anger—and you consciously stop yourself from acting on it. You just feel the raw sense of deprivation. The authors say you have to "Seek the Void." Michelle: Seek the void. So you lean into that empty, uncomfortable feeling of not getting what you want. Mark: Yes. Instead of running from it, you turn and face it. Step two: as you stare into that emptiness, you silently say to it, "I am one with the void." You accept it fully. Step three is the key. You visualize that void coalescing into a 'Black Sun' in your chest. It's a sun of infinite giving, not taking. It radiates fullness. Michelle: That's a fascinating image. A sun that's made of emptiness but feels like fullness. So instead of trying to suppress the craving, you're transforming it into a different kind of energy? Like an alchemist. Mark: That's the perfect analogy! And the final step, step four, is you feel that Black Sun's energy flowing out of you, directed at the world. You feel a sense of overwhelming generosity. The tool redirects the selfish, taking energy of the impulse into a selfless, giving energy. Michelle: So Marty, in that moment of rage, would feel the anger, face the inner void of powerlessness, visualize it becoming this Black Sun, and then feel a wave of giving energy, maybe towards his son? Mark: Exactly. And it works. He starts controlling his temper. He stops gambling. He becomes a role model. His wife, Susan, sees the change and is so inspired she starts using the tool for her overeating. She describes a moment where she's about to binge on cookies, uses the Black Sun, and instead of feeling deprived, she feels this powerful sense of fullness and just walks away. The desire is gone. Michelle: That’s incredible. It’s not about willpower in the traditional sense of gritting your teeth and resisting. It's about changing the very nature of the desire itself. Mark: You've nailed it. It’s about realizing that true satisfaction comes from giving out, not taking in. The more you use the tool, the more you strengthen that "giving" muscle, and the weaker Part X's hold on you becomes. It's a way of fighting back that doesn't exhaust you; it actually fills you up.

Mark: When you put it all together, the big shift here is moving from being a patient who analyzes their past to a warrior who fights for their future in the present moment. Michelle: I love that distinction. The patient is passive, a victim of their history. The warrior is active, an agent in their own life. Mark: Precisely. Part X wants you to feel like a victim of your own psychology, trapped in endless loops of "Why am I like this?" It wants you to believe you're broken. The Tools say you're not broken; you're just unarmed. And the goal isn't to eliminate pain or problems. That's impossible. Michelle: Right, because Part X is a universal force. It’s never going to just pack up and leave. The fight is ongoing. Mark: The fight is ongoing. But the book's promise is that you can become a better fighter. You can learn to recognize the enemy's tactics and deploy the right weapon at the right time. It's a fundamental shift from seeking understanding to seeking strength. Michelle: It feels like it’s about reclaiming your own power. For so long, we've outsourced it—to therapists, to self-help books, to the hope that one day we'll have an epiphany and everything will click. This approach puts the power, and the responsibility, squarely back in your hands. Mark: And it makes it immediate. You don't have to wait for your next therapy session. The battle is now. The tool is now. The opportunity to connect with your Life Force is always available, right in the middle of your most frustrating, painful moments. Michelle: So the next time you feel that pull of procrastination or that urge for one more episode on Netflix, maybe the question isn't 'Why am I so lazy?' but 'What tool can I use right now?' It turns a moment of self-criticism into a moment of action. Mark: That's the whole game. It's about transforming your problems from evidence of your weakness into opportunities to build your strength. Michelle: We'd love to hear what your 'Part X' sounds like. What are the common lies it tells you? Find us on our socials and share a story. It’s powerful to know we’re all in this fight together. Mark: This is Aibrary, signing off.