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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Make Your Own Lunch TV: Episode 002 from Ryan Porter on Vimeo.

This week I got to sit down with Abby Tobias from Sole Power Productions, a mega-entertainment company based in Toronto, Canada, to talk about how he got from high school to where is now. Which is borderline world domination.

He had some amazing stories and awesome insight but the thing that stuck with me the most from talk with Abby was when he said, “I walked into a place for something and got something totally different.”

He didn’t have all the answers from the beginning. He knew where he was and he had an idea of where he wanted to end up, so he started moving in that direction. Now he is living the life he wants to be living and having a bunch of ridiculous experiences along the way.

You know where you are. Figure out where you want to be and start heading in that direction. As I learned from Abby, you don’t always have to know every step, you just need to keep moving.

Join the Facebook Make Your Own Lunch Fan page by clicking here.

Starting from today, I will be uploading a new episode almost every Sunday.

There will be funny episodes, awkward episodes, serious episodes and episodes that will make you wonder why my mom allows me out in public.

Make sure to leave your comments on the video and share it!

PS If you want to make my dad as happy as he gets when he sees the free samples at Costco on a Saturday afternoon, join the MYOL Facebook group here -> www.facebook.com/makeyourownlunch

PPS Make sure to send these videos to your advisors/teachers/principals and World of Warcraft Guild

So I cleaned out my travel folder and found my airplane boarding passes from my 2009 travels and this picture is what happened when I dumped it out.  BAM!! (PS That’s a bout a third of them)

ANYWAYS…

The death threats and hate mail can stop. I am here to offer the reason of my recent absence.

Make Your Own Lunch TV. That’s right. I said it.

Beginning in February, this blog will be the new home of my video blog, Make Your Own Lunch TV. I am so stoked about this. MYOL TV is going to be a series of awesome, hilarious and insightful interviews with people who are making their own lunch. People who are living by their own set of rules and doing what they are passionate about.

Think graffiti artists, photographers, fashion designers, bloggers, skateboarders, and Leprechauns (I may or may not be lying about the Leprechauns). It’s going to be awesome.

A little more patience please and we will be good to go shortly.

In the meantime, browse the blog and catch up on any posts you might have missed like one of my personal favorites here or the one that caused Chuck Norris to quit his job and become a spoken word poet here.

Two of my favorite people in history were brothers with a crazy dream. Their names were Orville and Wilbur. (Kind of unfortunate names if you ask me) Their last name was Wright. That’s right, the guys who invented the airplane.

On the morning of December 17, 1903, the brothers decided to give their flying machine a test run. They called up a bunch newspapers ahead of time so that everyone would be able to read of their accomplishment but only ONE reporter showed up and it was only cause he thought they would crash and die.

After a coin-toss to decide who would pilot the first attempt, Orville jumped in the seat of the machine. He fired up the engine started off down the track they had made to help launch the plane into the sky. Can you imagine what the people watching would’ve been thinking? If it was 2009 they for sure would have been recording it on their Flip cams to send it to TMZ.com.

Then the miracle happened! The plane reached the end of the track and it actually left the ground! Orville was flying! To everyone’s disbelief the flyer was actually using an engine to fly.

Imagine what that was like.

Orville hardly had time to be excited because after a lightning fast 12 seconds in the air, the plane crashed to the ground smashing the rudder and breaking a lever off of the engine.

Orville had only managed to travel a distance of 120 ft

They had 12 seconds, 120 feet and a broken airplane to their names.

All the people watching were disappointed. Some people laughed at the weak attempt at flight. They chalked it up as another failure for these two brothers. The crash proved to people that the brothers were in fact, crazy and that real flight was mpossible.

Do you know what the brothers did?

They celebrated! High fives and chest bumps. They were so excited that they had flown 12 seconds, 120 feet! Next step: fly higher, longer and greater distances! After a quick repair, brother Wilbur jumped in the airplane and had a try at flying.

Their final attempt for the day produced a 59 second flight covering the distance of 852 feet!

These brothers had a vision and there were many who told them it was crazy, people who even took action to stop them from achieving flight and many who were certain it would never be accomplished. The brothers never released their vision, their dream and their goal.

Even after what some would have called a failure of their first attempt, when onlookers were shaking their heads and calling the brothers crazy, the brothers celebrated their small victory, fixed the plane and started down the runway again and again until they had perfected it.

The Wright Brothers changed history because of their persistence and vision.

Many of us have things we dream about and a vision for our future but give in and give up at the first sign of opposition and adversity.

Are you focused on your vision? Are you taking the time to celebrate your small victories along the way? Your 12 seconds and 120 feet in the air?

It’s easy to be wrapped up by a vision for bigger, better and more but we all need to take time to look at what we have already done and see the signs that we are that much closer to flight. Without a doubt, there will be times when you will crash after barely leaving the ground, leaving your plane in need of repair but celebrate the fact you left the ground. Never let go of your vision.

Make the decision to do things the ‘Wright’ way. Decide to celebrate every small accomplishment along the way to your dreams. Celebrate every second you spend off of the ground! Even if it’s only for 12 seconds!

So you’ve seen the presentation. You’ve heard the stories. You’ve laughed at my travels and mishaps. It’s now time for you to Make Your Own Lunch!

“But Ryan, I don’t know where to start!”

or

“But Ryan, I could hardly understand you with that strange Canadian accent.”

Well looky here, I just might have some help!

GET HUNGRY

The hungrier you are, the more likely it is that you will want to eat. The more you see what you want to have, what you want to do, where you want to go, and the person you want to become, the more your mouth starts to water.

Look at the menu! Start exploring the possibilities for you and your future. Anything goes! Remember you decide what’s realistic for you. Is it travelling? Is it going to school? Is it volunteering near your hometown or another country?

Start by cutting pictures out of magazines, bookmarking websites, “Photoshop-ing” your face on Brad Pitt’s body (or Angelina’s, or both * weird *) or create a collage or video with music that represents the vision you have for your future.

Start creating your personal menu! The things you want to choose from. Just like a menu include some appetizers, or smaller things you want, like a picture of a fishing rod because you want to enjoy the outdoors more. Also, put some of the bigger things on there, like a picture of the Eiffel tower to represent the trip to Paris you want to take.

It’s your personal menu. You can add to it and take away from it whenever you want.

Start looking at it everyday. Every time you look at it, feel what it would be like being in that place, living that life, being that person or having those things.

Get ready to actually start having those things.

BITE-SIZED PIECES

“OK Ryan. I have been looking at my menu everyday and nothing is happening! This thing doesn’t work! You suck!”

Whoa! Take it easy junior!

It doesn’t work? Or you haven’t been working?

Sitting there daydreaming doesn’t work at all! There’s no magic to this stuff. It will require you to actually logout of Facebook and sign-out of Windows Messenger and remove your butt from the chair you have been sitting in.

Start deciding what needs to be done. Then tackle those things one-by-one.

If it’s a trip to Paris you want, what are some things you could do today to bring you closer to being there? It may help you to take your picture of the Eiffel tower and draw dots around the outline of it. Have each dot represent something you can do to get you on your way.

The dots could be things like, “start saving $20/week in a separate savings account” or “go to a bookstore for an afternoon, read about Paris and find some places that interest me.” Or it could be, “learn how to say, ‘Ryan Porter’s jokes are lame’ in French” You could even have “talk to someone who has been there before and get their experience and advice”.

List everything and anything you could do to help you get to Paris, then step by step, piece by piece, dot by dot, start putting it together!

Things will happen a lot quicker than you think because you will constantly be crossing things off of the “to-do” list!

ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT

The best part of Make Your Own Lunch is that you aren’t actually dealing with a lunchbox!

You have just stepped into an all-you-can-eat buffet. And I am not even talking about one of those dark and dodgy “everything-kind-of-tastes-like-chicken-even-the-vegetables” buffets. I am talking about one of those Las Vegas, award-winning all-you-can-eat buffets and you just showed up with an empty plate and an empty stomach.

You get to fill your plate sky-high of the things you like. You get to try all types of new things. You get to stay away from the thing that you don’t like and best of all, you get to go back for seconds, thirds, fourths and as many times as it takes for you to get stuffed!

Make Your Own Lunch is about creating your own experiences. It’s not about trying to duplicate things I have done or doing exactly what people are telling you to do. It’s about jumping in the driver’s seat and controlling where you go. It’s about saying “I can’t take this peanut butter anymore” and making something you actually like!

There are so many experiences waiting for you. You don’t have to hold on to firecrackers or move to Japan either, you can start having the experiences you want today.

Make Your Own Lunch is not about me, it’s not about your parents, it’s not about your teachers, it’s about you and what you want.

Bon appetit!