It feels counter intuitive to admit, but I cherish compliments over the things I can't control more than the things that I do have control over.

Receiving a complement on my choice of clothes is lovely because it's often the result of me thinking about my outfit and trying to make it look good, so it's validating my efforts. When I receive a complement that is specific and feels like it's the result of non-sexual admiration (especially about a part of my appearance that I'm self-conscious about or have no control over) I hold on to them with warmth for a very long time.

An example of this: when I was in high school (more than half my life ago) I was working in a big-box department store and a stranger came up to me while I was working on something that had my full attention and he politely and sincerely interrupted me to say "don't mean to bother you but I just wanted to tell you that you have a really fantastic nose, it's really great" and he just nodded at this compliment as though it were fact and then went on with his day. I have a prominent, crooked nose with a lump (cyst) in the side of it. If observed with any scrutiny it's a deeply ugly nose for a woman to have and I've known this as long as I've been aware of my appearance. This man's compliment and his face as he said it have stayed with me my entire life. No other compliment has come close to the influence over how I feel and see myself as this unsolicited one did that day nearly 20 years ago.