Posts Tagged ‘ryan porter’

Make Your Own Lunch™ – The Second Helping

Friday, November 27th, 2009


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

FEAST

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?

(more…)

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Posted in I Made My Own Lunch, Make Your Own Lunch | 439 Comments »

Kanye West Isn’t a Jerk – 5 Lessons in friendship from Kanye

Thursday, September 17th, 2009

kanye_glow

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.) (more…)

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Posted in Make Your Own Lunch, You, Me, Him & Her | 465 Comments »

September Doesn’t Suck! – 4 Ways to Have a Great Year (Part II)

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

So Neo didn’t have the best advice in part one. In fact, I am still not too sure what he was talking about.

Here’s Part II, enjoy!

PART TWO

Decision 2: Decide where you will go.

When I talk about the school year, I am not only talking about the time you are in the classroom. I am talking about from the first day of school until your last day of exams. This includes your weekends, evenings and holidays.

Where do you want to go this year?

Think about taking a road trip with some of your best friends. Maybe you could take a graduation trip to Europe or a spring break trip to a different city nearby. Why don’t you jump on the bus and go visit your grandparents in Chicago or uncle in Seattle. (more…)

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Posted in I Made My Own Lunch, Make Your Own Lunch | 297 Comments »

Getting the Best Part Time Job EVER!

Friday, August 14th, 2009

drvie_thru

Maybe you don’t actually dream about a part-time job (some of you might actually have nightmares about it) but you need to stop asking your mommy for money. Yes, she loves you, she has to but you’re too old for that (money not love). Besides, a part-time job is almost as good for you as carrots.

Why?

A part-time job is a perfect way for you to learn how businesses work. You’ll have the chance to learn about yourself, other people and how they interact with each other and most importantly, you’ll get to make some money.

Here are 7 tips to getting an awesome part-time job. (more…)

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Posted in Jobs Nobody Talks About, Make Your Own Lunch | 609 Comments »

Fall Into the Gap: 7 Great reasons to take a Gap Year (part 2)

Sunday, August 9th, 2009

Here’s the last 4 reasons why you should take a gap year!

4. Get Qualified

A gap year isn’t just a year to waste away in hostels. It’s a year for you to get some experience and qualifications.

Get your TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certificate or your Dive Master scuba diving License. Learn some new skills while volunteering on a farm in Australia or gain work experience while working for a winery in France. Learn how to cook at a restaurant in India or guide English tours through the pyramids in Egypt. I have personally met somebody who has done each of the things I have mentioned.  All of them are always employed and happy because they’re doing what they are passionate about.

These types of qualifications and experience(s) will definitely make you stand out in any pile of resumes or school applications. (more…)

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Posted in Get Lost, Get Found, Make Your Own Lunch | 317 Comments »