There are a few sayings I grew up with that you might recognize also:
"Aim to impress." and "If you've got it, flaunt it."
Basically, it's advice people give each other to help them advance in our culture. It has a 'look at me' mentality about it. It encourages people to act or dress or talk in such a way that others will look at them and be wowed by them.
Back in middle school, we called them "show-offs." And to tell you honestly, no one really liked the show-offs from what I remember. Their efforts to impress backfired greatly. Who wants to hang around with a kid who thinks 'she's all that'? None of us 'uncool' kids were eager to make friends with them. It was obvious that all they were interested in doing is showing everyone how great they were. We were not impressed.
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This is very different, however, from someone being confident in who God has made them to be. We are fearfully and wonderfully made, the Bible says, and there is no shame in knowing and being confident in the fact that we are deeply loved and God thinks the world of us. He has given all of us talents. He has made each of us special in everyway. What's important is having the correct perspective about it. Here are a couple thoughts on the subject.
Wanting to impress others tells us two things about ourselves:
1) We probably aren't completely secure in the love God has for us. If we feel the need to get others' approval, we probably have some deep insecurity issues. Take all of it to Him and be honest with Him about it. Believe me, He is eager to flip your understanding and reveal to you just how deep His love goes for you! Deeper than the ocean is deep, higher than the heavens are high!
2) We are still learning what it means to love others. We haven't yet discovered that loving others is not about getting them impressed with us, but rather helping them see how amazing they are and how much God cares for them. We use what God has given us (talents, beauty, money...) to get people looking at Him, not us.
One final thought: We might not realize it, but when we spend our lives impressing others we miss out on a lot and we become slaves to it. Let God set you free from man-pleasing. He wants you so immersed in His love for you, you have no need to get anyone else's approval.
Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
Philippians 2:3-5 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/php.2.3-5.NLT
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!”
Psalms 139:13-18 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.139.13-18.NLT
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