Being nice while secretly expecting something back isn’t nice. It’s a tab you’re running on people.

Doing things for people with an invisible invoice attached turns generosity into a loan nobody agreed to. They never knew there was a balance, so when you get resentful about it they have no idea what happened. The resentment is the giveaway. Real giving does not accumulate, and if yours does, what you wanted was an exchange.

Notice which favors you are quietly counting. For those, either ask directly for the thing you actually want, or do the favor and let it go for good. Asking straight out feels riskier than keeping the tab, and it works far better.