Rachel Corbett: “This is who I am and I’m comfortable with it.”

In 2016 my one word declaration is ‘comfortable’.

In recent years ‘comfortable’ has had a bad rap and I think it’s time we wrestled it back from the pejorative.

In the age of over-achieving and finding our ‘why,’ it’s been used to describe the anti-go getter; the person who opts for complacency instead of confidently striding into the unknown.  If you’re comfortable you’re seen as preferring the safety of the well-trodden path, rather than risking the uncertainty that comes from reaching beyond your station.

But for me, being comfortable doesn’t describe a refusal to let go of the security blanket of the status quo, it describes a relaxed confidence that comes from knowing exactly who you are and what you’re capable of achieving.

I’ve always been more drawn to people who were comfortable in who they are, over those who are confident in it.

Incredible power comes from being comfortable – in your own skin, in your own ability, in the knowledge of what you’re good at and the things you know you should leave to the experts.  It’s about trusting your gut to make the right choices and to know that even if things don’t work out you’ll learn something that means you’re better off than when you started.

Comfortable for me is that person sitting alone at the wine bar who doesn’t need to check their phone or pretend to read the menu, it’s the individual you look up to because they know their stuff but act like they’ve always got more to learn.

So often we’re made to believe confidence is the key to success but I think the line between confidence and arrogance can be a very fine one. Confidence with nothing to back it up with is fine when you need to impress in a presentation or at a one off meeting but if you want to build your career and life around strong, lasting relationships, confidence can only get you so far.

Being comfortable is about being secure in the type of person you are, the things you stand for and what you can offer.

It means you celebrate your successes but also your failures, because the latter are more important when it comes to building the person you want to be. A comfortable person doesn’t look around to see who noticed when they fall flat on their face. They smile to themselves, get up, keep going and think about whom they can laugh about it with later.

"Being comfortable is about being secure in the type of person you are, the things you stand for and what you can offer." Images: supplied.

Being comfortable is about having plenty to say without needing the floor all the time, it means understanding you can be seen without pushing yourself in everyone’s face.

Making decisions based on what you believe is best for you, not what other people think you should do. It’s a quiet confidence that’s the sum of all the good and bad that has gotten you to this point.

I’ve spent 34 years falling over and getting back up, making right and wrong decisions, succeeding brilliantly and failing spectacularly. After all those years of triumph and disaster I’m starting to realise what I’m good at and what I should never try my hand at again.  It’s time to be comfortable in who I am and in what I’m bringing to the table.

I want to feel like the only person I have anything to prove to, is me. And the only thing I’m interested in beating is my own personal best.

I want to be in competition with no one but myself.

This is who I am and I’m comfortable with it.

Have you chosen a word to live by for 2016?