We always think of our own self as the person who does not deserve what we’ve achieved in our life. We never want to accept that we’ve done a really good job and its even worse when we’re accepting a compliment about it.
If someone says “your dress is nice”, we usually have of the few responses ready for that compliment. First one where we just disapprove the compliment, “No, it’s really not that great”. Second where we just try to justify that you had nothing to do with the outcome where you say “Oh this dress, just threw something on from the wardrobe, nothing much”. Or you simply insult the one who’s giving you the compliment, “Do you really like this dress? you surely haven’t seen good dresses in your life”. Or the classical, just reserve the compliment process, “Oh thanks for noticing the dress but you’re dress is way better than mine”.
It goes for everything. Project presentations, accomplishments, or life events, whenever someone compliments us, we just try to disapprove them, indirectly saying that whatever they’re complimenting is not true one way or the other. We’re just terrible at accepting compliments.
Instead of justifying your actions and why you’ve received that specific compliment, how about just acknowledging and accepting it? How about a simple “Thank You” instead of the whole shenanigan? And not just a boring thank you. Show people you actually care about their compliment and you’re genuinely interested in knowing what made them like what you’re doing or having.
“Thanks a lot, is there anything specific that you liked about my dress?” and that’s how you spark a quality conversation where the complimenting person doesn’t feel offended and instead feels accepted. Stop getting awkward with compliments, just start accepting them.
Artwork: https://dribbble.com/shots/8558603-Coffee-Break
Leave a Reply