So I pulled some strings… Tapped into my network… Hollered at some of my people and was able to get in touch with 4 historically significant people to give some graduation advice. Watch the video to see what I mean.

Ok ok ok, so maybe I played all of the parts in the video. I know right? I am a master of disguises. And accents.

Anyway…

You’re graduating. Congratulations! Do realize what that means? It means from here, right now, you must decide. Nobody else can do it for you. What will you have? Where will you go? What will you do? Who will you be?

I have seen it happen too many times. Students who are getting ready to graduate. They have all of these amazing ideas about what they will do, how they will conquer the world and do something that has never been done before but then something happens. They spend their first summer doing the same things they’ve done every summer before that. That slowly becomes the fall, where they do the same ting they’ve done every other fall. Eventually, they forget about the things they used to want to have and the places they used to want to go.

You are standing at the beginning of an incredible adventure where you get decide every part. Are you going to stand around and do the same things you’ve always done? or are you going to carve your own path? Find your own way? and Make Your Own Lunch?

Nobody else can decide this for you.

I hope that you take some time and plan what your future will look like. Decide that it’s realistic for you to have and then decide to get it, no exceptions.

You have spent the past few years to make it here, for this moment where you get to decide, for yourself, what you will do with your life.

Decide. Decide to Make Your Own Lunch.

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Distractions. Everybody has them. Of course you can’t control certain distractions, like when the ice cream truck drives by your house when you should be doing something more important and you find yourself chasing it for 36 minutes to order that clever popsicle shaped like a baseball glove with a baseball gumball strategically placed in the middle.

Am I right?… No? Let’s continue.

The problem is people end up looking for distractions. They sit down to do homework or finish something else important and they end up logging onto Facebook or YouTube and 3 hours later they are looking at prom pictures from somebody they’ve never met and watching videos of fat puppies that can’t roll over.

Distractions will always be there. These distraction are keeping you from more important stuff. They are keeping you from the stuff you want to have, the places you want to go the things you want to do and the person you want to be.

If you decide to do something, do it. Do it until it’s done. Put all your effort into getting it done, then relax.

I’m not saying YouTube and Facebook are bad. I use both. Look above for evidence. I check Facebook almost daily. I use Twitter. I still have a MySpace account and I get hundreds of emails every week that I personally respond to. Use these things. Enjoy the fact that you have access to all of this stuff. Don’t let it take over your life. Don’t let it keep you from what you really want.

Decide what you will let distract you and decide when you will allow yourself to be distracted. You have that control.

Now excuse me, I have a few Epic Fail videos I need to watch.

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Everyone has advice. From what you should wear to who you should date, what school you should go to and which job to apply for. The crazy part is, some of you are so used to getting and taking advice that you rarely listen to the person who knows you the best… YOU!

It’s natural to ask people for their advice, especially when you are making a big decision BUT don’t discount yourself. You know you better than anybody else. How do you feel about it? How does it fit with your vision? What do you really want?

Listen to your inner-self, it knows you well.

Oh yeah, and don’t bring your cat to prom.

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Make Your Own Lunch TV: Episode 004 from Ryan Porter on Vimeo.

There are a ton of people out there who completely live for the weekend. They spend the first half of their week talking about last weekend and the rest of the week talking about next weekend… and that’s because most people don’t love what they’re doing.

They are working in jobs that they aren’t passionate about or are studying programs at school that they have no interest in whatsoever.

One of the things that every person I have interviewed has in common is that they all love what they do. It’s hard work, a lot of hard work but they don’t mind working their butts off because it’s doing stuff that they love.

Find what you love and then find a way to do THAT.

I am not trying to make it sound easy. It’s not. It takes hard work, heart break, setbacks, failure and more hard work but the payoff is better than you can imagine.

This week I hung out with one of Canada’s fastest rising photographers Jaime Hogge. He is completely passionate about his work and shared some insight into how he became a photographer and what he thinks about doing something you love.

“That’s how you know when you are really doing something you should be doing… when you want to do it all of the time.” – Jaime Hogge

For more on Jaime, visit www.jaimehogge.com

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Make Your Own Lunch TV: Episode 003 from Ryan Porter on Vimeo.

So what do you want to be when you grow up???

I hate that question!

I had no idea how to answer that question when I was younger… Actually in elementary school I thought it was a real possibility for me to be a cartoon when I grew up. I thought at age 18 I would jut magically become a character in The Flinstones or GI Joe. Just hand in a resume, fill out an application then, BOOM. You’re a cartoon.

The possibilities seem so limited when you sit down and try to answer this question.

In high school, I was shown a chart with the possibilities for my future. If you co to Community College you can do these 10 jobs. If you get a 4 year degree from University you can do these 15 things etc.

The typical jobs on these types of charts are; doctor, lawyer, teacher, plumber, electrician, retail associate, car sales, real estate, graphic design, accountant, and travel agent. There was nothing on here that said founder of the largest DIY skateboarding company in North America or Entertainment Entrepreneur. You wouldn’t be able to find Youth Speaker or Youth Media Expert. I am positive that “guy who trades a red paperclip for a house” wouldn’t ever make the chart.

There are so many opportunities out there and so many more to be created. But here’s the catch: it’s up to you to create them!

You create them by taking chances, by talking to people, by surrounding yourself with people who can help you. You uncover these opportunities by asking questions, traveling, volunteering, reading and living just outside of your comfort zone.

In Episode 003, I speak with Norah and Ted to hear how they are creating their dream careers one skateboard at a time.

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