Wouldn't it be great if there was a magical method for getting whatever you want in life?

If you could pull up a recipe of sorts on your phone, mix it into your bowl of life, and bake up what you wanted?

Well, there is. Sort of..

My sister-in-law has talent. She says that she can take a bite of any baked food and, within a few seconds, recite a list of ingredients necessary to recreate it. Something she was doing while visiting our home and eating a piece of my Birthday cake. I asked -

"Do you think you can that with my cake?"

"Yes. No problem."

With that, I issued a challenge.

"It takes more than a list of ingredients. Why don't I tell you what to buy and let's see I you can still get the same result?"

Within a few minutes, we arrived at the grocery store. List in hand, she purchased everything needed, and we headed back home. 30-minutes later, ingredients assembled and mixed, she popped the cake into the oven - feeling sure she won the challenge.

That's when things got interesting.

Once cooled, we tasted her creation. My only thought was, "Close, but no cigar."

Yes, it was good, but not exact. I wasn't surprised, but she was stunned. I could tell by the look in her eyes what she was thinking -

"How was it possible? I used every ingredient. Why doesn't taste the same?"

The truth is, what seems simple usually isn't.

Ask anybody who bakes, and they'll tell you it's not the ingredients. It's the amount of each, how you mix them, the oven's temperature, and the time you allow your cake to bake.

Then you think about it…

Baking a cake is a lot like getting what you want in life. Assembling knowledge is only the beginning. Understanding the nuance of how it is put together is how you RISE to the top—pun intended.