Conviction: The Secret Sauce for Achieving Your Goals—and Beyond
John F. Thompson, CPWA?, CIMA?
Private Wealth Advisor / Owner @ Congruent Wealth | Certified Investment Management Analyst?
Key Takeaways
When it comes to achieving significant success—personally, professionally and in life generally—few traits are more important than conviction. Technically defined as “a strong persuasion or belief,” conviction is a mental attitude that sends out a message of true leadership and expertise to everyone in a person’s orbit.
Essentially, it’s that feeling you have when you are certain that what you believe or say is true—so certain that it can drive others to buy into that belief or statement.
Conviction is a key reason why the most talented people we know seem to always be able to:
It makes sense, therefore, to take a closer look at what it takes to have the type and amount of conviction that drives such success. Whether you’re attempting to build a corporate empire or convince a school board to take a particular action step, you’ll want to have a strong sense of conviction so you can harness its power.
Conviction is self-reinforcing
Conviction embodies dynamism, vitality and enthusiasm. It plays a prominent role in a person’s ability to convey a sense of purpose and inspire trust that he or she can adroitly handle difficult situations. Take entrepreneurs, for example. When they are on top of their game, they have an air of sureness—utter control—in business situations (and many times in other aspects of their lives). While many factors support this sense of control, conviction is a major component.
What’s more, conviction creates a positive and self-reinforcing loop. A strong sense of conviction helps facilitate success, which in turn reinforces the person’s sense of conviction. For example, a person’s complete confidence in themselves and what they are saying goes a long way toward dominating a meeting or other important situation where stakes are high. And by skillfully managing the situation and the people in it, they boost the probability of greater success.
It’s not surprising that research into conviction has focused largely on the business world and its CEOs and other leaders. One study by the IBM Institute for Business Value of the growth history and practices of more than 1,200 companies found that companies with the top growth rates excelled in three vital areas: course, capability and conviction. It concluded that “the most successful growers have a clear point of view on their industry” and “firms with the will to be successful growers can break free of perceived constraints.”
The three building blocks of conviction
There are three essential components of conviction (see Exhibit 2).
1. Self-efficacy
This is a person’s belief that he or she can achieve and be very successful in specific situations. Self-efficacy impacts just about everyone’s activities—from the effort exerted to the commitment to finish when confronted with obstacles to what goals people set for themselves.
Simply put: Self-efficacy is the “I can” or “I cannot” belief. High self-efficacy is “I can.”
Not surprisingly, the vast majority of the self-made Super Rich tend to have a high degree of self-efficacy when it comes to their lives. They generally understand that high-reward professional and financial situations are frequently difficult, presenting challenges that need to be—and can be—mastered.
Many times these situations can prove personally draining and discouraging. High self-efficacy gives people the conviction to persevere; they know that if they don’t give up, there is an excellent chance they will end up successful. Many of the most successful self-made Super Rich even believe it is a given that they will succeed—so they work manically, if necessary, to get their desired results.
Another benefit of high self-efficacy is the ability to bounce back relatively quickly from hindrances and more serious setbacks.
Important: Self-efficacy is often situation-specific. A highly successful entrepreneur or senior level executive may have high self-efficacy concerning one aspect of the business but not another. Because people who excel tend to realize that they are good at certain tasks and functions but not others, they often choose to concentrate their efforts on those activities at which they are especially proficient—the ones where they can have the biggest impact. Then, they delegate as much as possible in areas where they are not as confident or skilled.
In short, they do what they do well and outsource the rest.
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2. Determination
This is the foundation of conviction. Your determination—your resolve—is your motivation to excel, often predicated on your psychological commitment to yourself and others. It is your fervent desire to achieve the goals you have set for yourself. Therefore, it is fundamental to conviction—and substantially enhances the other two components.
Example: Affluent people tend to want to be wealthier—not purely for the sake of having more money, but for what they can do with greater wealth. In one study of 262 successful business owners, more than nine out of ten reported they want to be wealthier in order to take better care of loved ones (see Exhibit 3). More than 70 percent said being wealthier would enable them to be more supportive of charitable causes. One-sixth said that greater wealth would enable them to change the world for the better.
This determination to help loved ones, to support the causes they care about or even to change the world is essential to keeping these people on track and moving forward. Determination can be said to fuel conviction.
3. Preparation
Having a deep understanding of a particular situation and the people involved can generate a high level of confidence and conviction. There are many ways to prepare for a situation or moment, and the “best” way will depend on the nature of the situation. That said, the self-made Super Rich generally take three steps as part of their preparation efforts:
Manage stress. When there’s a lot on the line—during a vital business negotiation, for example, or a heated city council meeting—you might feel your heart pumping fast or get sick to your stomach. Those conditions are likely to diminish your chances of being successful (and they’re just plain bad for your health).
Preparation can reduce that stress significantly. The self-made Super Rich are usually extremely well prepared as they go into important negotiations and similar environments. Moreover, their preparations go beyond the dynamics of the argument to include a calculated assessment of the people they are negotiating with.
Lay the groundwork. This step encompasses all the assessments and evaluations you make based on the intelligence you have gathered. It is the work you do to assemble the pieces of the puzzle and know what each piece represents. Groundwork falls into two categories—the characteristics of the deal or situation, and the people you are dealing with.
Self-made billionaires often heavily invest in doing their homework—getting as organized as possible and taking steps to build strong, persuasive arguments. By accumulating facts and insights that can translate into success, they feed and foster their own sense of conviction.
Develop a strategy. By going into a negotiation or other situation with a well-thought-through strategy for getting the desired results, the self-made Super Rich become more self-confident, and they project that self-confidence more strongly. The result is greater conviction that, in turn, produces bigger accomplishments.
Conclusion
Having conviction in what you’re doing can take you incredibly far in your journey toward tremendous success—in business and in life. What’s more, you can build your “conviction muscles” by cultivating within yourself the key components that make up conviction.
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