Certainty

You may be absolutely certain of something, either about a person and their character or the outcome of a situation.  But trying to convince someone of that same certainty is never a good idea.  Sure, you could brow-beat them into it, but you’ll never truly convince them.  The more effective route is to allow people to arrive at their own certainty.  It’s actually the more respectful way to go because everyone deserves the time and space to arrive at knowing in their own way.

That’s not to say that you don’t offer your insight, but after you’ve done that, step back.  It may mean witnessing the bruising of an ego, the hurting of feelings, but in the end the insight is arrived at in a lasting and meaningful way.

Unless of course, you need to brow-beat people into seeing your certainty so that you can say: “I told you so.”  Or, because you need to be right.

That’s a whole other type of certainty all-together. Actually, it's not certainty at all -- it's the exact opposite.