Compliments Build Confidence

Let me impose these two questions: Have you given someone a compliment today? Have you received a compliment today?

Mark Twain once said “I can live for two months on a good compliment.”

When it comes to PURUSING A DREAM, ACHIEVING A GOAL, OR ACCOMPLISHING A TASK, compliments often give you the assurance that you are on the right track and that you are reaching your maximum and optimal potential in any field of endeavor.

In order to know what a compliment is, we have to know what a compliment is not. A compliment is not just saying kind words of pity to someone because you don’t want to hurt their feelings or break their spirit if they’re not good at doing something, that’s flattery, and King Solomon warned us in Proverbs 29:5 “A man that flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.” Flattery sets people up to fail rather than to succeed. A compliment is not mere flattery, but it is a recognition of raw ability in an individual’s life that can be chiseled into a fine work of art.

A compliment is a polite expression of praise or admiration that will boost a person’s morale.

Confidence is a feeling of self-assurance arising from one’s own appreciation of abilities or qualities.

I do believe that compliments alone should not provide anyone confidence, but they are in fact designed to reinforce confidence already existent and discovered in the life of an individual. Compliments build confidence not create confidence.

A compliment encourages you to follow through on some project you are currently engaged in. This is because the provider of the compliment has raised your level of awareness and expectation concerning your abilities.

Let me leave you with Three Benefits of Offering Compliments:

#1. COMPLIMENTS WILL BENEFIT OTHERS-We remind people of their value and talents and that they are noticed and known for their distinctive individualized qualities, because you will always be known for your difference.

#2. COMPLIMENTS BENEFIT YOURSELF-Compliments are self-revealing, it gives others an opportunity to discern what you really think about other people, that you can celebrate someone else’s accomplishments knowing it doesn’t take anything away from you. It forces us to think less of ourselves and more about the other person and we will experience the law of reciprocity, if you can give a compliment, certainly you will receive one. You remind yourself of the power of your own words and how they have a long lasting and life changing effect in other people’s lives.

#3. COMPLIMENTS BENEFIT YOUR ENVIRONMENT-Fostering a culture of encouragement and empowerment in our social and spiritual circles challenge others to be and to do their absolute best and it is quite contagious. And the world around us begins to change because we change the lives of others with compliments that builds confidence.

Mark Twain also said, “I have been complimented many times and they always embarrass me, I always feel that they have not said enough.”