Uhm. *cough*

I don’t know how to start this.

I am a self-help nerd. I started reading about all this mumbo jumbo back in 2007 and I have to admit: I am an addict. I love motivational speeches and articles which claim to ‘change lives’ or videos that push me beyond my limits to experiment and try new things. (Like This). One of the reasons why I am where I am in life is the fact that I read a lot. Tons of stuff. Good articles, bad articles, random comics, urdu literature, English Non-Fiction, Urdu Non-Fiction ya-de-ya-de-ya. Over the years, I have been able to implement a few things in my own life which consequently have made me, to some extent, a passion-driven individual. I left my day job few weeks ago to live a life of fulfillment (I really wasn’t happy .. Err.) and pursue my other interests in life such as writing and design. Plus KarachiTips has been on full throttle since June.

On this blog, I’ve run a few lifestyle experiments. I ran a 30-day reading series to make sure the habit of reading sticks. It did, eventually and now I always carry a book, always have a hugeass list of articles I need to read and my Google Reader has been alive more than it ever was.

I also ran a 30-day Documentary Series, which I had to give up half-way because .. Life happened.

And then there was Project Today – Daily Photos for 30 Days in order to make me realize how important it was to live in the here and now and not focus on the past or the future. That went well too!

So. I had to ask myself what was next. I took a break from regular blogging and started writing fluently. During the past one month, I’ve only focused on quantity rather than quality. I only published a few of the articles that I wrote during October because I really wanted to get the mess out first so I could produce some good stuff. I’ve only posted few of the art pieces that I’ve been working on lately, specially the Typography stuff because I love it too much.

 Now, I am Bored.

Art, I know isn’t going anywhere but towards a better version of what it is today. Life, I know is going to places I am really looking forward to. But I need something to look forward to in short term. Some excitement, some energy. Just for the fun of it.

So, here’s the idea:

I am going to live the next 50 days of my life with a firm belief in intention-manifestation model of reality; earning Rs. 100,000 through sources that come my way. There will be rules. There will be tons of reading and reflection. By 31st December, 2011 – I am going to make and save Rs. 100,000 for the highest good of all.

What am I going to do with the money? I don’t know. Probably get a DSLR. Or give it away to someone or some cause. I am the sort of guy who doesn’t really give a shit about money. Like, I do… But I don’t care too much. More on my beliefs on wealth later.

Wait, what?

Hold on. I’ll explain. Everything. Bit by bit.

Intent… Manifesta… aaaa .. WHAT?

The idea that your life basically is a result of your thoughts. Very new-age-ish. The reason why I am such an optimist all the time. Positive thoughts are positive energies that keep things aligned for you in your life. “Think good and your life will be good” is the real mantra. Rhonda Byrne’s 2006 book The Secret popularized the concept. I’m pretty sure everyone has at least heard of it if not read the book / seen the documentary.

Intention-Manifestation model of reality is a belief system – whatever you visualize, dwell upon, really want and have the urge for – it materializes in the physical world. This is a very vast topic on its own but if you want to know more, I would recommend reading the posts in Steve Pavlina’s blog category about it.

Ok, I get it. You want to live life up according to this .. Belief or whatever. Why Money? Why not anything else?

If I were to really try this lifestyle experiment, why wish for money? I could just ask for something else.

Here’s why: Money is fun. It’s tangible. And although I could pray / work for a car, or a macbook, it would somehow be … limited. Cash, however, would mean no limitations. I probably won’t be able to give away the car on final day but I certainly can give away the Rs. 100,000 if I want to.

 & Why Rs. 100,000?

Because I think it’s a sum that I define as ‘something’ in terms of its monetary magnitude.

Why now?

Because now feels like the right time to live it up? I mean. Even if I can’t manifest this sum of money, I will have something to look back to ten years from now, right? And if I do, well.. I’ll have Rs. 100,000 and something to look back to ten years from now. So really, I’ve got nothing to lose.

What’s my current financial standing?

By mine, I mean. Mine.

I am doing fairly ok.

My dad pays for my education and other basic life expenses.

I recently left my job where I was making about Rs. 20,000 a month (yes, it feels great to publicly talk about money. I like this already). All of it was basically spent hanging out with friends and paying for my transport or cellphone. Now that I am not employed anymore, my parents are back to taking care of their 21-year old son and they are not complaining. (love you, ammi abbu).

I have no savings at all.

 My company is making no profits whatsoever. Mainly because we’re given away the proceeds to charity, but it’s cool, we’re on our way there.

I have a decent computer, a nice little Blackberry that I absolutely love and my digital drawing pad that my friends got me recently (love you guys) which are probably the only three things I feel really close to. Except for my countless pairs of shoes but that’s a different story.

Rules

So, a game can’t be fun if there are no rules, right?

Here’s the restrictions I’m setting up on myself. Feel free to suggest if you think I should add/remove/change something.

• The money has to be earned. I can’t just take it from anyone. Not even my parents. No friends either. I have to earn it by providing some value against it. Like a product or a service.
• The money may come in through the platform of KarachiTips but it’s certainly not limited to that channel.
• I can’t spend any money that’s going towards the project. I want to end at a total of Rs. 100,000 in cash. Cash spent would mean cash lost.
• I will report out here the status every time something commendable happens; that includes both getting the money and/or getting leads.
• I will read about the topic, specially the Money handle of Intention-Manifestation model of reality. Some books, articles, video and audio programs. Will share about these as well.
• I will commit to making this project work. 100% effort will be put in. And let’s see if the magic really does happen. J
• I am gonna have to ask everyone publicly through a blogpost if I should quit the project, if I feel like that somewhere along the way. Continuation will then depend on the majority’s decision.
• What am I gonna do with the money, I will decide that on 31^st December, 2011 – The Day the Project Ends.
• If I cross the Rs. 100,000 barrier BEFORE the deadline, I will continue to work on this and see how much higher I can go.
• I am gonna have fun with this. Haha.

So yes. This is it. This is what I’ll mostly be blogging about for the rest of the year. Be sure to follow me on Twitter for regular updates: @abdullasyed.

Next few posts will cover:

1. My belief system about wealth and the way I think it works in real life
2. A brief account of The Law of Attraction, Intention-Manifestation, The Process and A Few How-Tos
3. Review of Gary Vaynerchuk’s Book: Crush It
4. (Hopefully) Some good news.