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{{a|shitmaxim|[[Be the best version of yourself]]}}{{shitmaxim|Be the best version of yourself}}, unless your Shakespearean flaw is lack of judgment, self-awareness or common sense, of course. Which, if I know you like I think I do, it is.  
{{a|shitmaxim|
[[File:Narcissus.jpg|450px|thumb|center|Look! It’s the best me! I ''think''.]]
Don’t dream it — ''be'' it.<br>}}{{shitmaxim|Be the best version of yourself}}, unless your mortal shortcoming should be a lack of judgment, self-awareness or common sense — which, if your susceptibility for fatuous [[LinkedIn]] wisdom is anything to go by, it will be.  


If it ''is'', sailor, you are in no position to judge which version of yourself is the best one out there. So you’re screwed. You could ask a friend you trust — but your judgment of your friends isn’t much better, right, so that won’t work either.
And if it ''is'', sailor, you are hardly well-placed to judge ''which'' version of yourself is best, are you?


But assume it isn’t. Let’s grant for a moment that you are , but you still think [[LinkedIn]] can sensibly answer them. If you are self-aware enough to acknowledge your fixable shortcomings and not fix them, living a sub-optimal life on purpose, then you have problems that [[LinkedIn]] surely cannot solve.
Now, maybe there’s a ''better'' version of yourself out there — one with a keener sense of self-awareness, for example; a realistic appreciation of the manifest ways in which you disappoint those you hold dear, and soundly fail to animate anyone else — but, in our working theory, remember, that version isn’t the one you’re presently being. ''That'' version you might not recognise, even it if it hit you in the face which, if the two of you met, there’s a fair chance it would.  


But, in any case, first thing: do you, in the first place, run multiple versions of yourself that, but for their quality, are basically the same? If so I think we’ve hit upon your problem. Have one version of yourself and make it a good one.
And, as you wiped the blood from your nose, what would this better version of you ''say'' to you? What would your present you say to this better you?


Or maybe you have your family self, your weekend self, your cricket-playing self and your morbidly-obsessed-with-the-vacuity of LinkedIn self. But these are different selves, for use on the right occasion. Don't bring your LinkedIn self to the cricket club (frankly, don’t take your LinkedIn self anywhere. Ideally, kill it off, even on LinkedIn.)
''You wouldn’t recognise it''. O tempora! O [[paradox]]!
 
So you’re stuffed. You could ask a friend you trust — but seeing as, [[Q.E.D.]], your judgment of your friends isn’t much better, that won’t work either.
 
But, okay — let’s grant for a moment that you ''are'' self-aware enough to see your reparable shortcomings. You know them, and you can fix them. But ''have'' you fixed them? Or was it only a [[life coach]]’s wit and wisdom — vouchsafed to you through the good offices of [[LinkedIn]] — that brought you to this epiphany? If that was the hurdle you needed to get over, what took you so long? and why are you standing there now, looking stupid? Well? ''What are you waiting for?''
 
There’s a better version of you out there, somewhere in conceptual design space, just waiting to be ''been''.
 
{{sa}}
*[[Maxims for a happy life]]

Latest revision as of 16:07, 31 January 2021

Crappy advice you find on LinkedIn
Look! It’s the best me! I think.

Don’t dream it — be it.

An occasional paean to the empty-headed aspirational gems that gush from from LinkedIn’s wellspring of bunk.
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Be the best version of yourself , unless your mortal shortcoming should be a lack of judgment, self-awareness or common sense — which, if your susceptibility for fatuous LinkedIn wisdom is anything to go by, it will be.

And if it is, sailor, you are hardly well-placed to judge which version of yourself is best, are you?

Now, maybe there’s a better version of yourself out there — one with a keener sense of self-awareness, for example; a realistic appreciation of the manifest ways in which you disappoint those you hold dear, and soundly fail to animate anyone else — but, in our working theory, remember, that version isn’t the one you’re presently being. That version you might not recognise, even it if it hit you in the face which, if the two of you met, there’s a fair chance it would.

And, as you wiped the blood from your nose, what would this better version of you say to you? What would your present you say to this better you?

You wouldn’t recognise it. O tempora! O paradox!

So you’re stuffed. You could ask a friend you trust — but seeing as, Q.E.D., your judgment of your friends isn’t much better, that won’t work either.

But, okay — let’s grant for a moment that you are self-aware enough to see your reparable shortcomings. You know them, and you can fix them. But have you fixed them? Or was it only a life coach’s wit and wisdom — vouchsafed to you through the good offices of LinkedIn — that brought you to this epiphany? If that was the hurdle you needed to get over, what took you so long? and why are you standing there now, looking stupid? Well? What are you waiting for?

There’s a better version of you out there, somewhere in conceptual design space, just waiting to be been.

See also