Here it is. The post you’ve been waiting for since the T-Rex became extinct. Make Your Own Lunch TV Episode 1.
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.
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. Read the rest of this entry »
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!”
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 things 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
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?
Do you have a girlfriend? Did your mom really slam a revolving door? Did you eat the shirako? How can I travel around the world? How can I teach English in Japan? Are you sure you weren’t dropped on your head or exposed to heightened levels of radiation as a child?
These are typical questions I get asked after presenting to audiences across the continent. There’s one question though, that I should take some time and answer.
I have been working on some awesome things for YOU! So don’t get too crazy.
Here’s what I want to get off of my chest:
Everybody deserves to do exactly what they want to do for work.
Imagine this: A job where you get to travel to some of the most amazing places on Earth. On your days off you can go scuba diving or snowboarding. You can volunteer in local communities or learn how to speak another language. You could go whale watching or paragliding. Basically, you get paid to be on vacation.
So… I usually don’t do this but when I heard this song, I felt like everyone needs to hear it. I have never met Kae Sun, nobody asked me to post this for him, I am just a big fan of good music… and this my friends, is good music. Enjoy!
Are you serious Yoda? This morning I couldn’t find my left sock or my right pant leg.
Ok, some people know what their passion is, others, have no idea. Some have found it and some never will. You are one of those people who have found it or who will find it. Trust me.
Here’s a shocker, it’s possible to have more than one passion.
Here’s the advice, don’t try to shove it all in one box or choose just one.
People feel the need to either; package all of their passions together or choose between them. “I like working with people BUT I also really like bottle-feeding Sea Elephants so I don’t know what to do.” Read the rest of this entry »
Forget about Heroes, Spiderman, the Dark Knight and any other costume wearing characters.
Terry Fox.
Those two words are enough to make my chest burn and give me goosebumps. He is a real-life super hero.
When I am speaking with young people, I am constantly getting them to make 4 decisions. The two hardest decisions to make are; decide what you want to do and who you want to be.
Many times, who you are is based on what you do.
I was going to write a huge blog entry about how to leave your mark and do extraordinary things. I was going to write about the things we can learn from Terry Fox but this video does it for me.
Take 8 minutes to watch this video. I give you permission to do it at school, at your office or while your girlfrend is trying to talk to you.
What will you do? And more importantly, who will you be?
Alright, alright we all saw it. Kanye West did what? Again? To who? What a jerk! Right?
I agree with most of you. Punking a sweet girl like Taylor Swift and robbing her of her once-in-a-lifetime moment on national TV in front of millions of people was pretty uncool. To quote Ye, “How could you be so heartless?”
So now that I have that out of the way, it’s time for me to talk about the other side of the story, the side where Kanye felt passionately about sticking up for and speaking out for a good friend of his. (Don’t get it twisted, I don’t agree with the WAY he did it.) Read the rest of this entry »
