We all struggle in those moments when we’re alone and temptation whispers its alluring voice. It’s the time when there are no other eyes on us that we find ourselves in the position where the only one who can provide us with backup to do what we know is right is ourselves. How do we make the right choices when we’re alone and temptation is leading us astray?

When you’ve been on a diet and you had a bad day and now you’re home and temptation comes knocking on your door in the form of junk food, what do you do? Nobody would know you cheated and broke your resolution. Nobody would know but you, and that ice cream looks so good right now.

What do you do in those moments where you’re presented a choice and the only person who would know you made the wrong decision is you? It can be with small decisions that aren’t necessarily horribly immoral, and it can also be with those things that are morally reprehensible. Why do we act differently when we are alone? Is our willpower too weak to prevent us from resisting temptation?

One way that I have found will keep me accountable when I am at risk of being unable to self-regulate is to imagine that someone I admire is watching me.

I imagine my mom or dad is watching me getting ready to do something contemptible, and it is a visualization shameful enough for me to prevent myself from doing it. It can be anyone special to you like your children, a friend or a mentor, so long as you love and admire that person enough to never wish to disappoint them.

How could I want to be anything but my best if my loved ones were watching me? Sometimes we have moments of weakness and if there isn’t anyone around to back us up, sometimes imagining them is just as powerful a deterrent as actual presence. When you feel temptation creep in, imagine that person you love and admire is watching you respond to it, and I expect you won’t let yourself sink to the shallowest depths of your character.