Please stop telling people, "You can be anything you want to be"

Not everyone can to everything, so do your thing and do it with excellence!  

I hear parents say, “My child can be anything they want to be” and motivation speakers encourage the suckers...sorry that slipped out...guests in the auditorium who shelled out hard earned money, with, “YOU can be anything you want to be.”  Well, maybe, but I would suggest that just because they can do it, doesn’t mean they should do it.  

President Obama and Bob the Builder say the same thing over and over and over again.  “Yes we can!”  Sure we can, but should we?  Just because President Obama can do it, does mean he should.  Just because Bob the Builder can do it, doesn’t mean her should.  

I have attended innumerable conferences and workshops courtesy of my employer, and while many are helpful and worth the expense, many are not.  I have learned that these speakers are paid, often, $3000 to $5000 for a one or two day conference.  That’s some serious money!  Are they worth it?  Maybe some.  Do you think their family told them that they could be anything they wanted to be?  

Maybe instead we should be encouraging our children and others to “Be the best that you are meant to be.”  Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you...”  We have a purpose and it would seem that it was not “I don’t need any plans for you, you be anything you want to be.”

If you are meant to be a motivational speaker, then be the best you can be at it, and give your listeners some tangible substance to learn from.

If you are meant to serve coffee and lend a listening ear at the local coffee shop, listen well, know your customers, call them by name and make the best cup of coffee.

If you are meant to enter the world of politics, good luck.  I don’t know how anyone can be their best there with so many competing demands from special interest groups.

What ever you are meant to be, do it well.  Not everyone can do everything, so do your thing and do it with excellence.  Be true to yourself, and others, because everyone has a story.