National Compliment Day is an unofficial holiday which falls annually on January 24th. The purpose of this holiday is to say something nice to your friends, family, and co-workers. After all, giving out compliments not only makes the receiver happy and helps build up trust between that person and you but studies have shown that giving out compliments also has a beneficial effect on the person giving out the compliment. In other words, give out a compliment and you may make yourself happy as well.

History of National Compliment Day

While this holiday isn’t very well documented, it is believed that it was started by two women from New Hampshire in 1998. These women, Kathy Chamberlin of Hopkinton, N.H. and Debby Hoffyman of Concord, N.H., created National Compliment Day to let people know that paying compliments are not only an easy way to connect with another human being but that it is also a very positive way.

3 Reasons Compliments Are Important

According to psychologists, compliments are very powerful. Probably much more than you would think they are. If you don’t believe me, then all you have to do is look at the following benefits that compliments  provide:

• It Motivates People-If you tell someone they are doing a great job, then it can provide motivation for them to work even harder and do an even better job. And that’s a powerful effect considering that people who don’t feel appreciated for the jobs they do end up doing worse of a job than someone who feels appreciated but isn’t being complimented.
• It Spreads Happiness-As I stated before, compliments not only make the recipient happier but studies have shown that it can make the person giving out the compliment happier as well. And who doesn’t want to be happy? After all, smiling is shown to burn calories.
• It Creates A Positive Environment-Giving out compliments not only benefits the giver and the receiver of the compliment in the workplace, however. It also benefits everyone. Studies have shown a link between workers giving each other compliments and them feeling more positive about their working environment.

Celebrating National Compliment Day

The best way to celebrate this holiday is by giving someone a compliment. According to the dictionary, a compliment is a polite expression of admiration or praise. It can be given verbally or in the form of a note, so choose a method that best suits you. Be sure to compliment friends, family, coworkers and even complete strangers, if you want to. Just be sure that your compliment is heartfelt and sincere. Nothing is worse than receiving a false compliment, just keep that in mind. If you want to share the holiday on social media, then be sure to use the hashtag #NationalComplimentDay.

Conclusion

National Compliment Day is the perfect holiday to show those people around you that you appreciate and love them. It’s also a great day to break away from negative attitudes and work towards creating a more positive working environment. After all, compliments are powerful tools that can transform human relationships, so why not use them?