The recipe for good science is the same as the recipe for a good life:

• People (Friends/Family/Colleagues/Competitors)
• Hard work
• Rest
• Luck

• Honesty
• Inspiration
• Purpose
• Love
• Persistence
• Courage
• Passion

All ingredients should be combined in roughly equal measures, too much or too little of any one of these ingredients can spoil the whole cake as many of us have found out from experience.

In life we can have just the cake, the first set of ingredients, but this is pretty plain and dry. Just like with real cakes so often it is the icing that makes the dish. I strongly believe that with the ingredients for your icing listed here you can have a successful and enjoyable life!

The cake of life cannot exist without people in it, your family and friends play such a large role in shaping the person that you are and the person you will become. Don’t underestimate the role that people play in your life, often it is not until much later in life that you can look back and see what the people around you actually did for you. Life is not always easy but with hard work most tasks can be completed. Rest is often ignored but is so integral to a happy and balanced life, without rest every task becomes harder. Take some time to look after yourself and you will find that you become more productive in the times that you are working. As with all things chance can play a role in life and science, some people say there is no such thing as luck, others depend upon it. In reality we all make our own luck, how we respond to the situations that occur around us often determines the nature of the outcome in the end. “Whether you think you can do a thing or think that you cannot you are right” (Henry Ford). So I take the view that most things are possible with the right people, hard work and rest.

In the end though these things only take us so far I believe that the icing of the cake is what allows a person to do anything, Honesty, Inspiration, Purpose, Love, Persistence, Courage and Passion are what make a person stand above the crowd, these are the ingredients that make history in the men and women that have them. So add a dash of spice to your life find what inspires you, what you are passionate about, what you love and go after it with courage and integrity. These ingredients make life worth living and can be on a grand scale or in everyday life.

Share with us what your passion is what makes life worth living for you, and the next time you are feeling down and out, track down the people in your life that make the cake…

Cheers,
Daniel