The Cake Metaphor Of Changing Your Life

I was on a group call last week and met Michael Leibowitz who gave me a whole new perspective on how to talk about life-change and how I speak into it. We were talking about a topic you’ve heard before - that it’s not enough to have more information and we need to apply what we know if we want to get results. That second part is easier said than done.

To understand why, we dove into a metaphor about baking a cake. First there’s the recipe, which functions as the information you need to complete the task. Good information helps you to know what the right ingredients are and what the best process is. But nothing happens if you don’t do anything with that information.

Next, you need to take action. You need to follow the recipe step by step and step. You need to prepare the pan, mix one set of ingredients for the base, mix another set of ingredients for the frosting, heat the oven and put your cake in it. The only way you get a cake is by doing something about it.

But that result is variable. Once you’ve done everything to prepare the cake, you need to wait and let it cook. You’ve done your best to create the ideal conditions for a good outcome. You took action to the best of your abilities, but ultimately what comes out at the end is out of your control. Your inputs of ingredients and preparation eventually transform into the final product.

When most people try to change their life they take it as far as the first two steps: Knowing what to do and then actually doing it. But what they neglect to focus on is the third part, understanding the cause and effect dynamics that explain how inputs lead to outputs. 

For example, cake batter mixed to a lighter consistency might cook faster. Letting the batter settle for longer before baking it might cause ingredients to separate and produce an uneven flavor, or bring out more flavor. The only way you know is by tasting it, by taking action and then observing or measuring what happened.

The part people overlook is incorporating an intentional feedback loop. It helps you better understand how inputs turn into outputs. Even though the result is out of your control, you can influence it by improving what you put into it and your process around it.

If you want to see the System I’ve been using for the last decade as my personal feedback loop for everything I hope to improve, I’ve got a video showing you how it works here!

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