Why is it so hard for me to take credit for my work?

Taking credit for your own contributions makes you genuinely uncomfortable, so you deflect it — even when the work was clearly yours. It feels wrong to accept it, maybe even arrogant. But that reflex, however humble it looks, quietly erases you from things you actually did, and over time that erasure adds up. There is a difference between arrogance and accuracy. Arrogance claims more than you contributed. Accuracy simply owns what is true. When you deflect real credit, you are not being modest; you are handing over a distorted picture in which your judgment and effort did not matter. That does no one a favor, least of all you, because you start to believe the distortion. The next time your work is praised, practice one plain response: thank you. No deflection, no handing it off, no minimizing. Let it be a little uncomfortable and let it stand. You are not bragging. You are just telling the truth about your part, which you already tell readily enough when something goes wrong.