We would rather speak ill of ourselves than not to talk of ourselves at all.

Self-criticism can be a way of keeping the subject on yourself. The confession, the running down of your own work, the story about how badly you handled something: all of it holds the floor, in a form nobody can object to. This is why some modesty is exhausting to be near. It asks for the same attention as boasting while appearing to ask for nothing.

Watch what happens in you when a conversation moves away from you entirely. If there is a pull to bring it back, even by way of a fault of your own, let it pass and stay with what the other person is saying.