I'm a scientist. [In her own magic-based sense of the word] If I didn't have any convictions, I'd be pretty useless at my job. But that's true too.

[Well, it wasn't like people who second-guessed themselves were all bad. She thinks of Estelle who was a good person who used to second guess herself too much. She thinks of Alexei, who had too much in the way of convictions and no desire to stop himself from inflicting evil on innocent people]

There is a difference though, between second-guessing yourself because the facts reveal new information you need to consider and second-guessing yourself because a bunch of people you don't know are badmouthing you.