The "best I could possibly be" phrase - please help me with a phrase translation for my son.

This is a bit difficult for me. I'll take a stab at it and let the sharks and vultures come in and clean up after.

An duine is fearr gur féidir liom a bheith.

You can’t use "an duine a bheith" for "to be the person". It is like the often made mistake "*Tá mé an fear".
You would have to add i (in) (like in "Tá mé i m'fhear" or "an fear atá ionam").
In this case, a direct relative clause would be necesary

an duine is fearr is féidir liom a bheith ionam.

But I'm not convinced.
I know "bheith i do dhuine", but "duine a bheith ionat"?

I could find only a few examples using "bheith ionam/ionat" (in the sense we need here):
Mheas sí duine eile a bheith ionam? (Did she think I was someone else?) in Stigmata by Pádraig Standún
Cén sórt piteoige an gceapann tú a bheith ionam? (What kind of sissy do you think I am?) in Geineasas by Liam Prút. Both aren't native speakers.



EDIT: In first version I added "ann" (referring back to an duine) instead of "ionam" and suggested
*? an duine is fearr ar/gur féidir liom a bheith ann, but this isn't better.

Perhaps something shorter like this would do:

An togha is féidir liom.
The best I can [be/do/accomplish]

The verb choices in brackets are unspoken, though understood.

_________________
I'm not a native (or entirely fluent) speaker, so be sure to wait for confirmations/corrections, especially for tattoos.

I like this last one.

Oh, my first version I put "ann". Then I thought, it sounds bad and I'm just digging myself a deeper hole. I couldn't get around sounding clunky.

Could you do:

An duine is fearr inar féidir liom bheith

Edit: And it's is féidir liom bheith, not a bheith, right?

Edit 2: Or is this just a different way of saying An duine is fearr ar féidir liom bheith ann?

Yes, 'an duine is fearr inar féidir liom bheith' = 'an duine is fearr ar féidir liom bheith ann'- but these don't work. 'An duine is fearr is féidir liom a bheith ionam' is based on 'duine maith atá ionam', and I'm assuming ''an duine is fearr ar féidir liom bheith/ar fëidir liom bheith ann' are based on the 'tá mé i mo dhuine maith' structure, but at the heart of this structure is the possessive adjective, which can't be fitted into 'an duine is fearr inar féidir liom bheith/ar féidir liom bheith ann'. Nor can you say 'tá mé i mo dhuine is fearr'.

There doesn't seem to be any rule regarding 'bheith/a bheith'.

(I'll be adding to this thread later.)

Then what about:

Mo dhuine is fearr is féidir

No. While the verb 'bí' can be omitted in some circumstances, the prepostion 'í' cannot.And you can't use the superlative with this structure.

An duine is fearr is féidir - The best (person) possible. This isn't meant as a translation of the OP's request. She seems to have lost interest anyway.

Alright, so I guess it doesn’t matter if you change it to ...inar féidir liom bheith/ar féidir liom bheith ann (I like the rhythm of the first one, even if it’s wrong)?