You may not know the good you do My mother is a very skilled singer.  It's her favorite art form. One year, she went to a vocal workshop at a local university, and she learned something there that stunned her. In singing, the very best vocal quality sounds blah to the person singing it.  This is because the resonance can only be heard properly by someone outside of the singer's body.  From the singer's subjective perspective, their voice will sound thin and shallow. She remembered a wedding she had sung at a long time ago. Before the wedding, she had prayed for weeks to sing beautifully.  She'd prepared and worked hard.  And then, when she sang, her voice sounded thin and shallow. Afterwards, numerous people came up to her to say she'd sounded amazing, but she didn't believe them.  She was the expert.  She was the one who knew what her singing was supposed to sound like.  She went home in tears, convinced she had failed. But she had succeeded beyond her wildest dreams. She had sung with a voice that belonged on Broadway.  But she'd had no idea, because she hadn't known that the objective perspective of her work was entirely different from the subjective one. This happens a lot. You aren't always the best judge of your work or your life or your value.  Sometimes, you simply cannot see what those around you can see clearly.  Sometimes, you simply cannot hear what they hear. Sometimes you may be exactly what someone else needs. And not just because of your strengths.  It often happens because of what you have learned from struggling to overcome your weaknesses.  Sometimes you may still be in the thick of that struggle when you are what someone else needs. So when someone compliments you, believe them.  Internalize it.  Accept it.  And tuck that away as a quiet source of confidence. Chuck your pride in the garbage.  Pride is the opposite of confidence.  Pride is insecure, and is easily shattered.  Confidence is humble, and can accept critique without losing heart. Your work will never be perfect, but it will always have value.  And you may not ever know how valuable it is to somebody else.