“I try my best”

I have one friend at college who, whenever someone compliments something that she did, responds, in a very confident tone like she really means it, “I try my best”/”I do my best”.

“You actually did such a good job cleaning up the lounge!” “I try my best.”
“You’re actually cooking so hard on the mural painting.” “I do my best.”
“You’re actually goated at bio/genshin/etc!” “I try my best.”
…

Somehow it didn’t occur to me before, that “I try my best” was a possible response to compliments. In the past, I’ve either said “thank you” or “no”/”nah”, depending on the situation and who was asking. I feel like in America, “thank you” is a pretty common and acceptable response, especially if you follow it with complimenting the other person in return. In some other cultures, “no” is more acceptable; deflecting compliments can be a way of showing modesty. But in many situations I’m in, neither “thank you” nor “no” feels like an appropriate response, because I don’t feel like I should fully accept the compliment or affirm that what the other person said is 100% true, but I also don’t want to offend the other person/appear hostile.

In these situations -- in most situations, actually -- I feel like “I try my best” would be the perfect middle ground. It doesn’t sound negative/contradictory, so in a way it’s agreeing with the complimenter, but at the same time it’s not committing to anything more than what one can handle. The only time when it doesn’t fit is when you didn’t actually try your best. So, dear friend at college, I am so thankful to you for enlightening me. I wish I had known this earlier.

Besides, people don’t need you to be perfect. They just need you to try your best.

Thanks to Vincent for helping with this post!