Sometimes other people spot your growth before you do. Believe them for once.

You measure yourself against who you were yesterday, which is a gap too small to see. Somebody else is comparing you to a version from months ago and can see the distance plainly. Brushing that off feels like modesty and is closer to refusing evidence. They are not being polite, they noticed something real.

When it happens next, resist the reflex to correct them. Ask what they noticed specifically and write it down. On the days it feels like nothing has changed, that sentence is worth more than anything you can tell yourself.