Often times when someone gives us a compliment, we don't truly consider what they say. We may say thank you, but in the back of our minds we are secretly trying to negate all of the compliments they are giving us. Today's post is all about taking that journey to letting someone believe in you.
I have a problem accepting compliments. There, I said it. I think we all do. We don't want to be seen as overly confident and we dread saying “I know” to a compliment someone gives us. Compliments and taking those words in to our souls is so important to becoming better, more confident people. Here are my tips for believing in yourself and believing in the compliments that others give you.
Accept Every Compliment
The biggest thing you can do today to let people believe in you is to accept every compliment you are given. Instead of putting down the compliment audibly or in your head just say, “Thank you so much, I really appreciate that.” Don't say, things like “Well, I'm not sure about that,” or any other things. Be confident. Be succinct. Don't add any qualifiers to the acceptance of your compliment. They thought that it was important to give you that compliment. You earned that compliment. That compliment is yours.
Fake It Until You Make It
This won't be easy at first. You might not be able to stop yourself from negating a compliment in your head, but still audibly accept the compliment and move toward a place of acceptance in your soul. You may not be able to do both right away, but the least you can do is look like you accepted the compliment.
Write down every compliment
Did someone say something about you that really made you smile or gave you joy? Write that compliment down. This is your compliment proof. You can write these down and tape them to your mirror or put them in a jar for when you are feeling down. Then in those moments, read those compliments. Those are real, live compliments that someone has given you in the past. You earned those compliments and therefore no matter the day, those are yours to keep and reuse. One thing we did in my sorority when I was in undergrad is we took turns to write down our thoughts about a person and put them in a decorated bag during a retreat. At the end of the retreat we got our bags and were able to go through all of our notes and keep going back to them throughout the semester. So whenever we got down about Greek life we can think of the amazing things our sisters said about us and get excited again. By writing down your compliments, you can go back to them and believe in yourself again.
Know you are capable of more
Above all else, know that you are capable of amazing things. You are capable of more than you know, you just have to get to that point, and then you will be capable of even more. Life is about chasing your dreams and chasing all the things you are capable of in life. The more you chase your capabilities, the more capable you become. Start by chasing a small goal and then chase bigger goals. Start wherever you are in your journey to believing in yourself, and know that you are always capable of believing in yourself more. You are always capable of doing bigger and better things. It's all about starting the journey forward.
One exercise that I have learned over my years is that when it comes to something that you are really excited about, talk about it like it has already happened. Get yourself in that happy mindset. So, if you are excited about getting a promotion, tell yourself, “Remember that one time I got a promotion and it changed the way that I lived and worked? Remember that time that with my promotion at work I was able to better provide for myself and do more amazing things at work?” If you talk about something like it has already happened, you can really begin to see that thing actually happening,
Final Thoughts
As women we are taught to be shy about our accomplishments. We are never taught to step boldly into the sun and shine our light for all to see. In order to accomplish things we have to believe in ourselves and we have to believe that others believe in us too. When someone says that you are an awesome student or worker, believe them. Take that to heart and do better. Work harder. Be stronger. You are capable of so much, darling.
