Conviction is a word we don’t use often, nor do we hear it in casual conversation. One of its definitions shared on the web is “a strong persuasion or belief – the state of being convinced”.
When you hear someone say that they have a high conviction in their choice or decision, it feels like their choice or decision generated much thought and was not rushed, whereas its importance to the person becomes quite clear to the rest of us with time. When stated, it adds great weight to the situation at hand.
Resilience is born out of conviction. To live through the consequences of our choice or decision and make adjustments. The person who has conviction truly believes the outcome they are seeking is worthy and important enough to pursue. Signaling our acceptance of the responsibility for the path we choose to pursue regardless of whether the final outcome will be good or bad or what obstacles we will face given our choices.
But how do you create conviction? Surprisingly it starts far from “having a strong persuasion or belief”. It requires an openness of mind to consider every possibility. First, you must doubt everything you learn or hear. while continuing to explore and go deeper when you reach a point of not understanding something. It demands looking at opposite options and figuring out how both could work before choosing one. And to find multiple ways to achieve what you desire. It is only when first finding options and paths, in many directions, can you begin to build a strong belief or passion in one direction as you begin to critically evaluate what makes sense to do given all of the choices you have uncovered.
Never create conviction quickly. Mistakenly, many times we hear people saying they have conviction when sadly it is only their passion, biases, and emotion that masquerade as having cultivated their strong belief through a well-thought-out process of exploration. Or other times, when strong conviction simply amplifies the popular idea or sentiment at the moment. Either situation should signal a warning to create doubt in what you hear or what others believe.
Strong conviction, worthy of notice and reflection, typically appears to at first be somewhat counter to popular opinion or sentiment. It’s never easily understood in the face of conflicting information “on the surface”. Sometimes, it simply may not be evident or clear to us why someone has chosen the conviction they do. Having a conviction does signal that the topic we focus on is important and worthy of great thought. Not to procrastinate. Rather taking the time to explore & converge, creates conviction which then generates resilience when navigating difficult and important situations in our lives.
We can live much of our lives without conviction. Following our habits and routines will get us through our daily lives quite well. It’s either when difficult things appear or we seek significant change in our lives that having conviction becomes important.
Understanding that we need to go through the process of creating conviction in our lives at this important time helps give us the strength to “see it through”. For it can bring you the leverage to eventually succeed regardless of your current lack of resources, knowledge, or skills.
Helping us believe we should never give up and keep trying. Because what we are trying to accomplish, is worthy of our attention and time to enjoy the success we may see through our untiring efforts. No matter how long it may take or the obstacles we may face.