Ok, I lied.

Okay, I guess I should come clean about my post (as if you already didn't know). I used my LEET Photoshop skills to change my hundred-some savings into millions. If only it were that easy, right? I didn't just make that post to look stupid, it had some sort of a point.

Look, I am writing about becoming rich, so in turn, I will become rich. I know this already. However, it isn't going to be easy. I'm not just going to find $1,000,000 one day just because I want it. Hope only gets you so far. Can you imagine if people relied solely on hope for everything? I'll try it right now. I am going to hope really really hard for just something small; just one $100 bill to appear in my wallet. Ready? Okay, here goes.

......

Nothing. Dang, and I wanted it so bad too.

Can you see my point here? Do you even understand why we are writing yet? Do you realize what this will accomplish? The point is to be looking; to be open. You must be willing to change yourself; be willing to indulge. If you are looking, something will come up. I can't tell you what that may be, because it caries from person to person, but if you're looking it is IMPOSSIBLE not find something.

Oh will there be critics. My blog has 2 posts (well it will soon be 3) and I have a total of 15 views. I am pretty sure 10 of them are from me, and 2 more from 2 of my friends, so simple math tells me that I have 3 unique visits. I don't need to worry about criticism, just yet. But I can name on one hand the number of people that would tell me this idea was great. It's not that I don't have good friends or people who believe in me, it's just that once people take in so much negativity it consumes them. I can think of a few people in general that I know would laugh if they read this, and would definitely want to tell me about it. It will probably be the same for you as well, and that is why you need to be strong. I talked a little bit about this in my first post, but it is so important I wanted to bring it back up. You need to believe in yourself because it will be very hard to find someone else to believe in you.

That last sentence I wrote is probably pretty hypocritical. Look at me, I started writing this journal on April 3. It's now April 24 and I have 3 entries. I also haven't been really trying or dedicated myself to anything, either. But I am only a victim of my own actions.

Maybe I should write where I am coming from so when this is in a book, and you're reading it, you can really relate. I always found it so hard to believe when people say "Any can do this because I am just a normal person and did it!" I never ever ever believed that when I heard it. Also, Kiyosaki talks a lot about how it doesn't take money to make money, and how he was living in his car/friends basement for a long time. I always had a hard time grasping how that works. So here I am, in the flesh. I'm not a big business owner with 4 cars and a multimillion dollar house screaming "You can do it!" I'm a 21 year old kid living in my parent’s house, unemployed; completely and totally 100% broke. So broke in fact that I have created a pretty big amount of debt. I don't like to talk about numbers because some people can't relate to that sort of thing. I'm not going to say how far I am in debt, or how big my savings account is, because people can take it wrong. To some people being $5,000 in debt is nothing and to others that is enormous. Also, having $100 in your wallet may be huge to others, but nothing to some. It's all about perspective. Do you realize you don't have to have $1 billion in your bank account to be rich? However, let me put it this way; My savings account has not had a comma in it for quite some time (while my debt has). I am not lying about this. If you don't believe me, fine, but I am telling you as I am writing this on April 24, 2007, I am broke.

Ok now that you all know who I am, what now? I know some of the things you are thinking. I bet some people reading this will think "but you don't know how bad I have it," and while that may be true, don't let it hold you down. Please don't ever ever ever let something bad that has happened in your life hold you back from being great. I know there are many things that I would not be able to relate with some people with, some things that can hurt pretty bad. Don't take this the wrong way, these things can make us stronger. Your character is truly displayed when you are faced with adversity. That adversity can be something as simple as waking up late for wake up or stubbing your toe, to as serious as the death of a loved one. This can be a very touchy subject, but sometimes you just need to face life; head on. Bad things will happen, and life can really hurt, but you can not use that as an excuse. "Don't dread on the past because the good ole days start right now." Think about that. No matter how large, how difficult, how challenging whatever you are facing can be right now, you CAN start a new chapter. You are writing your book right now. Everything you do and think and a part of how you act which in turn is a part of who you will become. We have to be strong.

I did something today that I haven't in a long time (if ever). I haven't been sleeping very well lately, and woke up around 4:00am. After having a complete negative attitude about myself and how I am amounting to nothing, I decided to go for a drive. It was around 7:00am and the sun was just coming up. Have you ever just really looked at things? Instead of just worrying about reaching your destination, have you ever noticed the true beauty of this world? It is pretty amazing. Well, while I was driving I stopped at a local park by the lake, and just thought. I remember thinking "what am I going to do?!!" I kept thinking "I feel like I am going in a downward spiral into nothingness. I am becoming nothing." This is very real, I felt terrible. I haven't felt this bad ever. I truly think that the past year although a lot of good things have happened, I feel it has been the hardest year of my life. I continually feel like I am becoming more and more depressed and disgusted with myself everyday. This kind of thinking will get me NO WHERE. As I was sitting there just looking into the woods, I decided that I need to stop. I need to change. I know it is going to be hard, and not everything will come easy. But I just need to take things little by little. I need to change my life one thing at a time. I can't expect over night success. However, if I want it bad enough and truly put forth the time and effort, it has to come. It just has to. It's the same for you.

Well this entry was pretty long, and I talked a lot about some things I wanted to mention. I will definitely talk about others in more detail later on, but not now. Now is the time to start. Do me a favor after you get done reading this. Think of something you have wanted to do for a long time, but just never had to motivation, courage, or will to do it. Tackle whatever fear is holding you back, and get it done. I guarantee you will feel great once it is complete. That's all for now, but I'll be back soon - and hopefully rich.

Okay, mission accomplished.

Alright well it's been two days since my last update, and a lot has happened since then. Pretty much a few minutes after I was done writing my phone started ringing off the hook from people asking me for my home address. It was pretty bizarre, but didn't think too much of it. Today I got 4 or 5 letters from people each having a few thousand dollars in them. All of them had no return address or letter inside... weird. Also, just a few minutes ago I checked my bank statement and I was pretty blown away; see for yourself:

Hmm, how could this be? Then it hit me, this is all from just starting to write about becoming rich. It has to be. It's truely amazing. And to think a few people laughed at this idea that I had. In the back of my mind I doubted that this would work, but obviously it does. So people, here is proof - JUST WRITE!

I would update more but I have a lot to do. You see, when you suddenly become a millionaire you have many more options in your life. I think I am going to plan a few vacations, go car shopping, and buy a new home. Since my mission is accomplished I technically don't even have to update anymore, but I probably will in the next few days. If for anything, just to show how sweet this idea really is. Adios.

Every mile starts with one step.

So here's the plan; write about getting rich and you will get rich. Sounds simple, right? Well, yeah, in the flesh it sounds too good to be true, but why not try it?

I don't even know where to start to be honest. My name is Carl Carlson, I'm 21, broke, in debt, unmotivated, a college drop out, living with my parents, and I quit everything I start. I've never really been good at anything nor have I had the dedication to pursue anything. Boy, what a good attitude. Let's change all of this.

"If you think you can, you can. If you think you can't, you're right." I'm just full of little inspirational quotes and could just blast away with them. However, I want to focus on a couple that really stand out in relation to my journey here. I need to work on my attitude. For as long as I can remember, I've always had the "think you can't" part nailed down pretty good. It's the "think you can" that gets me. I don't really know when all of this started, but I've been mediocre at almost everything I try. Once that happens for so long, it pretty much becomes second nature. I'm not using my childhood or past experiences as an excuse, because excusitis will get me no where. I just want to lay it all out there and fix it.

I seem to have lost my train of thought. Oh ok I just remembered a good quote.

"Nobody succeeds past his or her wildest expectations unless he or she begins with some wild expectations." Too true. If you go to your deadbeat co-workers and say something like "I'm going to get out of this job someday," I guarantee you get some chuckles. And that will probably bring most people down. But c'mon, no one with success has become who they are without doing something different! In order to have extraordinary results you need to do something extraordinary. This is going to sound crazy to whomever reads this, but you've just come across the journal of a future millionaire. Yes, as of April 2007, no one knows who I am. The only statements I get in the mail that have commas in them are my debt. However, I'm going to be rich. Why? Because I am writing about it.

Here's the idea, write about something so it becomes true. Everything else I've tried didn't work, so might as well give this a shot. As long as it's on my mind with every update, I can't just forget it. This can't just become another one of those "things" that I give up on. No way. This is success we're talking about. Success is just a choice, and I'm making that choice now.

Okay. If it were as easy and writing about it, everyone would be rich, right? If all you had to do was write a journal everyday and the money started pouring in, everybody would be a millionaire, right? Well, not really. For starters, I think most people would think it was stupid and not look into more. Some more would think "that would never work" and never type one sentence. Others might say "that might work for others, but not me." A lot of people would create a journal, but never write anything. Most people would start, write 2 or 3 entries, then fade away. I've covered a lot of the ones who wouldn't, so now that just leaves you and I. We don't think this is stupid, it will work, and we can do it. We're going to write until people are sending us checks in the mail and our printer spits out Benjamins, ya here!?

"BUT WHAT AM I GOING TO DO BESIDES JUST WRITING A JOURNAL CARL?!!?" I don't know, you'll think of something. You'll find something. I don't care if you can't think of any ideas to pay off your debt, to solve your money problems, to become financially free. You will find them. Things will come up. Just keep looking. I myself have a few ideas as of right now, and more will come, but that's for a later time. Not this entry. The important thing is to start getting yourself wanting to bad often. Become hungry. I am going to write until people start handing me money on the street.

I don't know how often I will update, but twice a week sounds fine. For those of you that may be reading this for the first time, just trust me on this one. Whether you're reading it online on my blog, or it's already published in my book (which it will), it doesn't matter. Honestly, I don't care if you're not with me 100%, just do one thing. Just answer one question for me. Are you ready for it?

"How big would your dreams be if you knew you could not fail?"

Answer that, then begin writing.