Skip to content
Life Cartography is written by Dr. Charles Porter.
Life Cartography is written by Dr. Charles Porter.

Culture. Coaching. Leadership. Creativity.

  • Home
  • Contact
  • The most important thing
  • Blog
  • Training Programs
  • Lifecartography- on life and leadership, culture, and coaching
Life Cartography is written by Dr. Charles Porter.

Culture. Coaching. Leadership. Creativity.

Why being a Marine is better than being a narcissist. Life Lesson #13

Charles Porter, January 13, 2014January 22, 2014

<<Important disclaimer. Be all you can be is the slogan of the US Army, not the Marines. But I thought the titled sounded better this way. Call it editorial license. My sincere apologies to all the offended parties.>>

You can’t “be anything you want to be.”

Pop mantras are dangerous and lead to disappointment. Seriously.

Take for example “All you need is love.” The Beetles sang it, our parents grew up believing it. But try telling that to a hungry child and it rings hollow, doesn’t it?

The other one is “you can be anything you want to be.”

I wanted to be Michael Jordan. I wanted to fly from the free throw line. The reality is that no matter how many hours I practiced, no matter how many times I jumped, I was never going to be able to do what Jordan did. Not possible. That didn’t stop me from playing every day for a decade.

I had never not gotten a job I applied for until RMR. Remote Meter Reading was a company that paid well, and would have been a great part time job. Except that on the qualifying test, I couldn’t match numbers quickly. I had a tiny bit of dyslexia. A career in math was never going to be a reality for me.

Good intentions don’t make up for bad thinking.

You can’t be anything you want to be. But there are something, some unique place, where you can be you and your life will have meaning and purpose.

The key is discovering what that is. Those who discover that early exponentially multiply their satisfaction with life.

You can’t be anything you want to be. I prefer US Army statement. “Be all you can be.” Now that’s possible.

40 Life lessons to learn before you turn 40 Life Coaching Life Lessons 40 Life Lessons I learned before I turned 40be all you can beLife Coachinglife skillsMarinesUSMC

Post navigation

Previous post
Next post

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Dig into the history

  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • July 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • November 2020
  • September 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • December 2019
  • June 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • June 2018
  • April 2018
  • July 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • December 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • February 2016
  • December 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013

Popular

  • Why you probably didn’t grow up poor, even if you think you did.
  • The one scripture that has killed more marriages than any other
  • There is no weather, there is only walking the dog. Part 2
  • Set Aside or Set Apart
  • Money can solve most of life’s problems. Solving the remaining ones makes you truly rich.

Search

©2023 Life Cartography is written by Dr. Charles Porter. | WordPress Theme by SuperbThemes