“Be yourself” is advice given when it seems like someone is trying so hard to please others, that they are trying to change their personality into something unnatural for them. That kind of pretending just can’t be carried off. People see through it, and if they don’t, you really don’t want to be stuck in the position of acting all the time. It’s too much of a strain, and you start to forget how to be the person you are most natural being.
“Be whoever you want to be” is about your aspirations. It means you shouldn’t shut down your aspirations because you don’t think you can achieve them. It means don’t shut yourself down, or set your sights any lower than what you really want. It does not mean you will get to being whoever you want to be, but you have no chance if you stop yourself before you start.
For both of these things, it’s about no fakery. No fooling yourself or others. It’s just not worth it. It makes you feel bad about yourself, and it doesn’t fool anyone else. When you are yourself and when you go after your real desired, then you are sincere and honest, and people respect that. If they tell you you can’t do it, you have to ignore them. They may or may not be right, but if you don’t try, you’ll always wonder if you could have been happier. In any case, most of the happiness is in trying, not in actually succeeding. That’s generally a let-down.
The thing about all this is that you are yourself, even if you try to be someone else. It just gets confused and makes you anxious. You will always have your own dreams, even if you aren’t chasing them. But not chasing them will make you feel less, and is dishonest, too, no matter what anyone else says. You may look a fool to others, but you are holding onto the trueness of your own personality, and that makes being a fool into an insignificant thing. You can’t let your worry about what others think change you into something you are not. It just doesn’t work.
It just doesn’t work.