Spread the love and joy for National Compliment Day

We know how powerful words are. Receiving a compliment can lift your spirits and boost your confidence, but did you know that the giver also benefits? Celebrate National Compliment Day by learning a little more about the benefits of giving a compliment.

A sincere compliment can turn even the most negative day around, leaving you with a little more joy and maybe a smile on your face. That’s true when you receive a compliment, but it’s also true when you’re giving one!

Ahead of National Compliment Day on January 24, our West Jefferson Medical Center team is sharing a little insight about why compliments are such a powerful thing.

Why there’s a National Compliment Day

National Compliment Day was established in 1998 to encourage people to share compliments with others, whether in person or on social media. When you compliment people, it introduces a little more joy, a little more happiness and a little more kindness into the world.

There’s an added benefit to having this day in January. It’s the coldest time of year and often the gloomiest, so why not light up a day with an extra compliment or two?

Compliments are a gift for someone else—and for you

Beyond simply being nice, sharing a compliment gives your health and well-being a big boost!

The benefits of complimenting someone else include:

• A better mood. Random acts of kindness, including complimenting others, can make you happier and more joyful. Researchers in a 2020 study found that compliment-givers are in a better mood after giving a compliment.
• A positive mindset. Sharing compliments with others helps us learn to keep an eye open for the positive things in life, rather than dwelling on the negative. While you may only pay attention to someone’s outfit or a good presentation for a short amount of time, the act of seeing a small bit of good—and celebrating it—can shape your entire day.
• Better health. Believe it or not, giving compliments can help improve your health! That’s partially because compliment-giving can help you feel more involved with the world around you. Loneliness and social isolation have been found to be as dangerous to health as smoking, in some cases. Interacting with others counteracts those negative health factors.
• Improved relationships. It’s only natural that you’ll have a better relationship with others when you are kind to them. This is true with your inner circle (family, friends and coworkers) and others outside that circle, including strangers you pass on the street. In the latter case, compliments can help you make new friends and allow you to interact with those around you more easily.
• Renewed gratitude. An uninvited, unsolicited compliment emerges from a sense of appreciation about something, a type of gratitude. By giving a compliment, you’re cultivating gratitude in yourself and in the recipient. Gratitude, in turn, gives you a number of health benefits, including a decreased risk of anxiety and depression, better heart health and improved sleep.

That’s a lot of benefits for simply doing something nice! It’s well worth the effort to pause and give a compliment, whether it’s National Compliment Day or not.

Need another opportunity for compliment-giving to add to your calendar? World Compliment Day is March 1.

Take a step further in boosting your health as you start the new year. Schedule an appointment with your primary care provider at West Jefferson Medical Center.