This is the core idea behind the often repeated but rarely
appreciated phrase:
"No matter where you go, there you are"
and there is a corresponding idea in the
Zen tenet:
"There is nowhere to go, there is nothing to do."
"Yourself"
evolves, and one can influence the evolution, but one always brings the old self along - the new self is a shell around the old self, like a layer on an
onion. The
physical analog to this is "
ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny", i.e. the
fetus goes through developmental stages which reflect the earlier creatures from which we evolved.
The big difference is that one's personality can revert to those previous "selves" with the right
stimulus.
Stress can be a serious trigger, and the likelihood of reversion can depend on the
maturity,
integrity, and
sincerity of the new self, and motivations behind its development.
So, you can't get away from yourself, but you can go back to yourself or come back to yourself.