I’m in my third week staying in La Jolla Village in San Diego and I’ve been to at least four juice bars here. These are real juice bars, where they make custom fresh juices. (Unlike in New York, where most juice places have only bottled juice.)
I like to drink a juice daily.
Every day, I order a specific custom juice that’s not on most menus. Every day I request the same ingredients in the same order.
Orange
Carrot
Green Apple
Splash of pineapple
A touch of ginger
A touch of turmeric
These ingredients make a really good juice. And this juice makes me happy.
(If you’re into juice, try it and let me know how you like it.)
And…
Every day, the juice tastes different. It often looks different too. Sometimes its more heavily carrot. Other days, more heavily orange.
Ingredients vs Recipe
This illustrates the difference between knowing the ingredients and having a recipe.
I have a list of ingredients. But I don’t have a recipe for exact amounts of each. Each person who makes it for me uses his or her own judgment as to the amounts of each fruit or vegetable that goes into my juice.
Those differences result in a different taste, consistency, and look.
Of course, they are all juice. If I just gave that same list of ingredients and didn’t tell the person I wanted juice, who knows what I’d get. Maybe a fruit and vegetable bowl. Maybe a soufflé. It would all depend on the creativity and resources of the person behind the counter.
Telling them that I want these ingredients to be processed into a juice gives them my outcome. I am certain I’ll get juice. I don’t mind the variety in the flavor (within reason; the other day I almost choked on the ginger — that wasn’t the best experience).
When it comes to my juice, I accept the consequences of having no recipe.
In other areas of my life, a list of ingredients isn’t good enough. I want a consistently reliable result.
For that, I need a recipe.
How much of each ingredient? What’s the order in which they go into the mix? How do you mix the juice?
Using the Ingredients vs Recipe Frame
The frame of ingredients vs recipe is one I use in many areas of my life, from my daily rituals and routines to my business.
Some questions I ask myself:
- What is the result I seek to create?
- How consistently do I want to create that result?
- If someone gives me a list of ingredients, will I know what to do with those ingredients?
- Or, do I need a recipe?
Try This On
Try this one on for a day. Play with it in your life. Let me know what you learn about yourself and what questions you have.
Love it? Hate it? What do you think? Don't hold back...