Can the main conflict be the inner conflict?

I've recently been having trouble with developing plots. The plots I created seemed heavily sequential. No matter how many twists or complications I put in, they always seemed dry, proceeding from one problem to the next.

I believe I have discovered a way to fix this: by making sure, from the beginning, that my conflict is linked to the theme, or message, of my novel. In addition, I link the main character to the theme. This seems to be working, and has the added benefit of acting as a safeguard against accidental preaching of said theme.

HOWEVER, it appears that this method is prone to making the hero's inner conflict (what I think of as conflicting sides within the protagonist) be the MAIN conflict (the main problem in the story). The main conflict is the inner conflict.

Is this okay? This doesn't strike me as much of a problem, but being an aspiring author, I want to be sure.

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Can the main conflict be the inner conflict?

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