Accepting Compliments and Acknowledging Achievements: Why is it so freaking difficult

Raising a well-deserved trophy in the sky celebrating your hard work. Yay, you!

If you haven’t seen the Barbie movie, there’s a part where the Barbies are accepting awards. As they walk across the stage, they never say thank you. Instead, they exclaim proudly, “I deserved it, or I worked hard for this.” 

What if we all did that?

What if we walked across life’s stage and believed the compliment giver was right? Or believed with our entire being that our achievements were worth celebrating because we worked hard and we deserved it?

I just recently penned an article for the September 2023 issue of CH2 Magazine on this exact topic. Below is an excerpt. 

“It isn't easy to accept the compliment or acknowledge your accomplishments when you can see how it should've, could've, or would've been so much better. So here I was saying thank you aloud, with my inner critic telling me this very accomplished psychologist must be confused.

It didn't feel genuine because I didn't believe it was true. 

I've spoken with other women who describe the same occurrence. They cringe and squirm when given a compliment. They immediately distract or devalue their hard work at the mere thought of acknowledging their accomplishments.”

Click here to read the entire article. 

Sheila Tucker is a licensed marriage and family therapist and owner of Heart Mind & Soul Counseling located in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. She specializes in empowering clients who overthink, worry, and experience their fair share of anxiety to become more rooted in peace, ease, and confidence—and helping clients become more curious, compassionate, and clear so they can communicate more effectively, creating better relationships with themselves and others.