October 11 was the International Day of the Girl. For those of you who do not know anything about this particular holiday, here's a quick summary:

The International Day of the Girl was established by the United Nations on behalf of youth advocacy groups all over the globe. According to dayofthegirl.org, "It’s a day when activist groups come together under the same goal to highlight, discuss and take action to advance rights and opportunities for girls everywhere."

Although important, my purpose in writing this article is not to discuss the rights of girls worldwide and further advocate for them as so many groups already did this week. My purpose is to inspire your thought process in regard to the way you talk to girls and women, and the specific ways you choose to compliment and encourage them.

More often than not, I catch myself complimenting the women in my life based on their beauty on the surface. I've become a lazy compliment giver in the way that I go for the obvious. I tend to compliment them based on their outfit, their shoes, or my go-to, "you look pretty today!". When did it become acceptable to compliment women and girls based on their body over their wit, their shoes before their hard work, or the quality of their makeup job prior to complimenting a kind heart? Society has become so focused on outward appearances that it fosters the notion that we should be comfortable with shallow living.

There isn’t anything notable or world changing about having the smallest waist, perfectly toned legs, or a precisely contoured face. By complimenting and encouraging such traits, we encourage the idea that beauty is everything. Physical beauty alone will not produce successful leaders, hard-working scholars, or “world-changers”, world-changers being those who affect other people in a positive way. No amount of concealer, eyebrow shaping, or lipstick will ever be able to change the inner beauty level of a woman.

I’m not here to bash on makeup, or style, or self-care, that isn’t my purpose. I do think that a part of feeling confident about yourself can be found in looking good. Look good, feel good, right? The only negative part of that is the kind of attention it can attract. If we continuously compliment women based on their physical features, we lose the opportunity to encourage them in their pursuit of success. The opportunity to encourage a woman or a young girl by complimenting their achievements, character, drive, kindness, or their intellect should be taken advantage of. Confidence breeds success and challenges barriers previously thought too big to overcome.

In an effort to build up those around you and to encourage women in their lives, make a conscious effort to compliment them in ways that go deeper than the surface. Go ahead and tell them they're beautiful, but more often than that, find things to say about their contagious laugh, their displays of athleticism, the way they look when they talk about their passions, or their out of this world sense of humor. Those are compliments of value that will far surpass hearing "You look nice today." Do yourself a favor and the woman you're complimenting by digging a little deeper for a comment that just might make her day and stick with her for even longer than that when it builds confidence and reaps the benefits of that confidence.