Success is an interesting animal. It can make you opportunity-driven instead of conviction-driven. Then you’re wide open to “succeeding” at becoming someone you never wanted to be!
Convictions, on the other hand, get formed away from applause, achievement, and followers. They are about who God has called you to be, what you want your life to be about, the influence you believe God wants you to have.
Convictions are also about who you don’t want to be. You’re deciding that your integrity will not be bought, that a larger stage must be the right stage. When you make choices from your convictions, you are deciding the nature of your significance and influence, what you’ll pass on to your children and their children.
When you make choices from opportunity, the nature of your significance gets decided for you. A mature friend can help you sort through all this. Convictions can come at any age to radically affect the rest of your journey.