Be Yourself? Nah

There are many problems with the clichéd piece of advice you hear every half an hour all across the globe: Be yourself. Whilst spoken with the best of intentions (and certainly communicating a much-needed friendly demeanor on the part of the speaker) this phrase happens to be:

1. Not specific enough; in principle, it can hardly pinpoint anything (e.g. which part of myself should I be?)
   
   
2. Far from calming or relaxing the intended recipient; it usually distracts
   
   
3. Contradictory to other advice (e.g. "You shouldn't make it a habit to XYZ...")

Personally? I think advice like, "Imagine you're one of those hotshot lawyers in Boston Legal!" would come in handier. At least this creates a specific image which gets specific neural connections firing making a specific inclination/mood/disposition more likely.

In other words, model someone else in order to improve yourself.