I used to think that that I was made up of very specific ingredients, and that those ingredients were carved in stone. I have recently come to the conclusion, that this type of thinking is actually incorrect.

I remember the first thing I ever baked. My mom bought me the ‘betty crocker cookbook for boys and girls’ when I was in grade 4, and inside of this book was a recipe for cinnamon rolls. I screwed up the recipe the first time I made them (I think I may have made some sort of classic mistake – like forgetting to add baking powder), but I was so determined that I tried again, and again, until eventually it became a staple recipe for me.

Even though it’s been years since I last made them, I still vividly remember the process of breaking apart the powder balls, which formed inside of the box of Bisquicks, pouring in the milk, and watching the moist mixture stick to the sides of our metal mixing bowl. I remember the trial and error of getting the dough to the perfect consistency so that it wouldn’t stick to the table when I rolled it out. My favourite part was sprinkling the cinnamon and sugar mixture over the rolled out dough and watching it turn a dark speckled brown – I’d lick the sticky concoction off of my fingers before carefully and tightly rolling the prepared batter into a long roll (which I would have gladly eaten raw if I knew that it wouldn’t make me sick) and cutting it into sections before popping it into the oven… okay, I did always eat the raw end bit that wouldn’t have made a very good roll anyway.

Thus, something that I originally failed at quickly became a routine and a recipe that I prided myself on being able to make, and make well.

Isn’t that the case when it comes to defining who we think that we are. We each have all of these limiting beliefs about ourselves from our past (because of mistakes and failed attempts at whatever) and if we allow them to, these fears can prevent us from trying anything new and from evolving as a person.

We can alter or evolve our ‘personalities’ by stretching our comfort zones: making what once seemed scary or impossible into something that is routine and just ‘who we are.’ It’s only impossible if you haven’t done it before; but here’s the thing, I’ve listened to many a podcast with many a successful person and they all admit the same secret: they had to fake it to make it. As they started going after their dreams, they had to ‘pretend,’ to some degree, that the were perfectly cut-out for the job, and then grow after. They didn’t wait until everything was just right, they pushed themselves past their comfort zones and hoped and trusted that it would all turn out alright in the end.

I have recently started working as an assistant editor at myyogaonline.com, and when I was offered the job I thought to myself ‘wow, I fooled them good.’ This was a huge jump for me, and it involved having to rewrite the way that I saw myself. I had to rewrite my recipe in a way that this opportunity made sense. Now that I’m two days into the job, this rewritten paradigm has boosted my confidence in an assortment of other ways, and made me realize that I really am in control of my identity.

You’re not being inauthentic if you add a little more salt in one situation, and a little more sugar in another. You’re just being mindful of what is needed in every opportunity life throws at you, and using the many facets of you to the best of your ability so that you can get the most out of life. Nothing wrong with that.

You are not static. No one is static. We are constantly evolving and not one of us can be pegged down by an unchanging recipe tucked away and forgotten under our mother’s coffee table.

No one decides what ingredients you’re made of, except you.  

This blog post has been in response to the weekly challenge on the Daily Post: A Pinch of You.