Giving someone a sincere compliment is a way to connect, praise, and build a relationship with that person. I don’t mean in a phony kissing-up kind of way. I mean noticing and appreciating the exemplary work or behavior that this person has exhibited. If compliments are a form of praise and appreciation for our actions, why are we consistently bad at receiving compliments? The answer to that is somewhat complicated, but according to Christopher Littlefield, it has to do with four things. Compliments can take us by surprise, which causes us to freeze momentarily, find an explanation for what’s happening, shift our perspective, and share our experiences.  According to Christopher, compliments are more about the giver than the receiver. This episode dives into how to give and receive compliments and why they are so crucial to creating connections and building relationships. Christopher Littlefield specializes in employee appreciation, recognition, and workplace culture. He is the founder of Beyond Thank You, an organization that helps increase employee engagement. He’s trained thousands of leaders to understand what people need to be their best.  He is a regular contributor to Forbes and Harvard Business Review and the author of 75+Team Building Activities for Remote Teams: Simple Ways to Build Trust, Strengthen Communications, and Laugh Together, a book about building and engaging a team. We talk about the psychology of the power behind compliments. Christopher even shares an experience where the power of compliments helped resolve a workplace conflict. We talk about feeling valued, continuously building relationships, and the importance of focusing on progress. Christopher walks us through how and why to appreciate the recognition and how to give and receive compliments gracefully.  And be sure to subscribe to The Self-Employed Life in Apple podcasts or follow us on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts so you don’t miss an episode. Everything you need can all be found at jeffreyshaw.com  Christopher Littlefield thank you so much for being here! Remember, you might be in business FOR yourself but you are not in business BY yourself.  Be your best self. Be proud and keep changing the world.   Join 18,000 subscribers looking to do "business with a soul" and sign up to receive The Self-Employed Nutshell Newsletter! Sign up here!   Guest Contact – Beyond Thank You Christopher Littlefield Twitter Christopher Littlefield LinkedIn 75+Team Building Activities for Remote Teams: Simple Ways to Build Trust, Strengthen Communications, and Laugh Together from Do Compliments Make You Cringe? Here’s Why. How to Give and Receive Compliments at Work Contact Jeffrey – Website Coaching support My book, LINGO: Discover Your Ideal Customer’s Secret Language and Make Your Business Irresistible is now available! Watch my TEDx LincolnSquare video and please share!   Valuable complimentary resources to help you-   The Self-Employed Business Institute- You know you're really good at what you do. You're talented, you have a skill set. The problem is you're probably in a field where there is no business education. This is common amongst self-employed people! And, there's no business education out there for us! You also know that being self-employed is unique and you need better strategies, coaching, support, and accountability. The Self-Employed Business Institute, a five-month online education is exactly what you need. Check it out!   Take The Self-Employed Assessment! Ever feel like you're all over the place? Or frustrated it seems like you have everything you need for your business success but it's somehow not coming together? Take this short quiz to discover the biggest hidden gap that’s keeping you from having a thriving Self-Employed Ecosystem. You’ll find out what part of your business needs attention and you'll also get a few laser-focused insights to help you start closing that gap.   Have Your Website Brand Message Reviewed