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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People are lazy. Really.

What I mean is, people are always trying to find easy ways to do stuff. They buy a bunch of products from infomercials to make their lives easier, use the contraption one time and then put it in the closet with their Snuggie, Magic Bullet and Slap-Chop.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying these inventions aren’t great. I personally own a Magic Bullet and use it every single morning. And let me tell you, it is indeed magical.

BUT are you one of those people? One of those people who sit around dreaming of stuff you want to do, places you want to go, things you want to have or the person you want to become and never get off the sofa to get those things?

It’s super important to dream. To see the things you want to have but it’s almost even more important to take action. To start taking the steps towards those things. If not, you will join the masses of miserable people who eventually stop dreaming because “none of their dreams come true”.

Living the life that you want to live isn’t luck. It’s a decision. It’s the decision to have those things, it’s deciding that it’s realistic, it’s deciding to cut off every other option until you have it and it’s the decision to take action… To take action now.

What are you waiting for??

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Nobody can do it alone.

The quickest way to get the things you want, to go the places you dream of, do the stuff you want and be the person you want to be, is to team up with people who can help. People who you can trust to push you and keep you focused. People who understand what you want to do and who support your vision.

Anybody in history who had accomplished something you look at and say, “wow look at what they did”. Those people, didn’t do it alone.

Michael Jordan had Scottie Pippen, Batman had Robin, Ernie had Bert, Rocky had Adrian and Chuck Norris had a roundhouse kick.

The point is, to get where you want to go and to get there a lot quicker, start surrounding yourself with the people who can help. It doesn’t have to include Paris Hilton, Lady Gaga, Joe Jonas or even Ozzy Osbourne.

You want to Make Your Own Lunch? Build your dream team.

Make Your Own Lunch TV: Episode 005 from Ryan Porter on Vimeo.

Destiny. Do you believe in it?

There are too many people who leave their lives up to destiny. They say things like, “it will happened if it’s destined to be.” or when they don’t get something they wanted they make themselves feel better by saying “I guess it wasn’t my destiny.”

The people who have what they want have it because they decided to. The people who live the lives they dream about are living that way because they took action. They didn’t wait for destiny to give them what they wanted.

Make Your Own Lunch is all about carving your own path, living life on your terms and creating your own destiny.

In this week’s episode, I sat down with Kestin Cornwall, Owner and Founder of eLLIPTIC Clothing and we talked about creating your own destiny.

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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.

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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 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!