Don't listen to what people say; look at what people do

People lie all the time. Not on purpose, but because they might not really be paying attention to what they are actually saying. They can also fall prey to different cognitive biases. If we just listen to what people say, we may get faulty information.

This is especially important when it comes to feedback. It can be feedback about your product, your work etc. If your manager says your work is good, but you don't see them putting you up for promotions, giving you more scope etc, you can assume that your work is not good enough for that.

Be polite, take the compliments, but don't take them to heart. Look at what people do to understand what they really think.