Tag Archives: Big things

Shell tax evasion Philippines

So it seems I have a new cause next to my quest about Globe hacking websites as last week I met a former customs officer who was very concerned about an issue that smells like tax evasion, or more probably just fraud, by Shell Philippines. And the concern was not only about Shell, but also about the government not following up or allowing Shell to get away with it, costing The Philippines billions of pesos, so tens of millions of US dollars.

So I was given a webpage (Shell tax free) about the issue, but being a bit knowledgeable about internet I think that site/page is not enough to make known to the world what has been going on here and is probably still going on, partly because it is partly in Tagalog. So related to my Globe cause I think I’ll make a similar page related to the Shell issue in this site, stating e.g. some facts in chronological order. Maybe let’s start with some referrals to other pages about the subject doing some Google search:

Outliers

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Today I was talking about success and someone pointed me to the book Outliers of Malcolm Gladwell that she was apparently reading. So she gave me the book and I started reading, and right from the first chapter I realized it gives a new point of view additional or contrary of the Principles of Success as described by Napoleon Hill. And no, while writing I realize that it is not really contrary to the Principles of Success of Napoleon Hill, the things I have been following for quite a while now, but it shines some new light on why some people are more successful than others, or why you (read ‘I’) sometimes feel something isn’t right, something like that the Principles of Success can’t explain why e.g. Bill Gates is so super rich, so super successful.

And the book indeed explains why Bill Gates has been somehow ‘lucky’ being so extraordinary successful. And also explains why Andrew Carnegie achieved such unimaginable success. The explains that those people indeed were talented, worked hard and things like that. But it also explains that related to those people some more things like time and circumstances were in their favor.

And the books starts with a very simple sample that we all know, that there are early students and late students, related to the ‘cut off date’ that schools, or actually governments, set, that cause some students in the same year, the same grade, are older, months older than other students. And of course in later life a few months don’t really matter. But based on research it can be proved that those few months just make the difference for some people to pass the mark for ‘next stage’ in something, where other people don’t pass that mark. And in many areas of life, that ‘passing the mark’ means that you get more coaching or time or whatever that makes the difference bigger. And depending on the situation it means that in some areas those who have the advantage can be successful in that area and that those who don’t have the advantage have no chance in being successful in that specific area.

And it was quite comforting for me to read why Bill Gates has been so much more successful than I have been. As e.g. he was just in the right age bracket to jump on the ‘computer band wagon’ and be extraordinary successful. And I am just something like eight years older, meaning that I was just too late to jump on the bandwagon that Bill Gates and some other people, including Steve Jobs, to be ‘really successful’ in the ‘computer world’.

So this book, the ideas in this book of course mean that I am thinking what that means for the Principles of Success, for this site that is built around the Principles of Success. Like the book certainly confirms that ‘luck’ is somehow involved in being successful.

But looking at the Principles of Success as described by Napoleon Hill my gut feel says that the Principles of Success he describes still apply. And that these new insights just explains some of the reasons why some people are so extraordinary successful. As indeed, what I always felt, it appears that there is something involved in the extreme success that some people have. But that certainly doesn’t mean that applying the Principles of Success is invalid or something. And it also doesn’t mean that not anybody could achieve the success that those really successful people have had.

And thinking further, maybe Napoleon Hill does explain it, maybe it is included. As indeed, Napoleon Hill acknowledges something like Infinite Intelligence, some higher power helping us to achieve success, if we are open to it.

I was very grateful today

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I was very grateful today being shown in the house of some apparently very rich people, where before I would just have been jealous. But today I really enjoyed someone putting so much attention in a beautiful house on the beach, creating such a beautiful place.

So yes, it seems good things are coming closer to me, it seems I am getting closer to the success I am looking for, or actually the successes I am looking for.

So thank you, Infinite Intelligence, for letting this happen to me, thank you!

Be careful what you wish for

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I am getting a bit scared, as it seems indeed anything is possible, anything. And indeed, that I am starting to believe, believe in the Principles of Success and everything that I put in motion based on my reading of Think and Grow Rich. And that I made the promise that I would write publicly about my journey to success. And the last scares me most, as it seems to be easier to write about all my problems and fears and things not working than to write about the successes that I am achieving right now. And part of the things I am doing are confidential, need to be kept secret for competitive reasons, but I am starting to realize that that may just be at least partly an excuse.

So it is strange to kind of conclude that somehow I have been scared of success. And that apparently when you are afraid of something, it won’t happen. And that that may be a reason why I, until now or until recently have not been successful. And that that may be a reason why you are not successful.

And yes, I am seeing more and more how the Principles of Success seem to work. And that indeed as Napoleon Hill describes, you cannot fully explain how it works, what is behind the text in books about that, what is between the lines. As somehow you must experience it, somehow you must feel yourself how it works, or get the insight. And indeed, it seems only to work by doing, doing some of the crazy things as described in all those books. Like reading aloud your desire document as Napoleon Hill describes.

And no, I’m not there yet. But somehow I am much farther than two years ago, when I decided to go up (from the deepest down in my life). Somehow I am much closer to some kind of success, even though I don’t see any money coming in shortly, something I (still) desperately need. But seeing people believing in you, or your ideas, and seeing them starting doing things related to what you have thought, is quite impressive. So somehow something like leverage seems to be coming into place, something I have never seen in my life before. And it is a bit scary, as I am not fully sure where this is going, somehow it is partly out of my hands. But somehow I am also or still the one finally deciding where this is going to go. And that is maybe something I was born for, some role that seems to suit me better than anything I have ever done before.

So yes, there is something like Infinite Intelligence. And somehow it is driven by belief. And somehow making decisions and sticking to it makes things clearer, not only for yourself, but especially for others. And that seem to be all things related to leadership, something I never really saw, experienced, never really felt I had in me, even though I felt I had ‘something’ in me that somehow didn’t come out.

So thank you, Napoleon Hill, and all those others, who inspired me to start walking on the way to success. And who can inspire you on your way to success.

Be careful what you wish for…

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Mitsubishi Pajero Black 2015. A while ago I wrote a letter to Mitsubishi in Japan, as I wanted to inform them that I have put my mind on a black Mitsubishi Pajero, highest model, diesel with manual transmission. And while writing this, I realize that that letter was partly written based on fear, fear of not receiving the car I am determined to acquire within the time frame that Mitsubishi will still produce this car. But of course there was more, as somehow of course I am hoping that Mitsubishi would just give me the car I am determined to have, preferably including everything needed to be able to drive it, as as of the moment I still have no clue how I would realize all of this in the ‘real world’, the real world of money and such.

And I actually had no clue what to expect. I just wrote a letter to the President of Mitsubishi Motors Corporation in Japan, including an image of the car I have in mind, with the statement that I am determined to have this car, brand new, but have no means of just buying the car in the near future. So basically my request was to reserve a car like that for me until I would have the funds available to buy and drive it. And of course I doubted(?!) and still doubt that they would just give me that car, so my main request was basically to just have some kind of reply, even if it were just a confirmation of receipt of my letter.

So I had no clue what to expect, but, as I mostly do recently with these type of things, I just sent the letter and left it to The Universe what to do with it. And for quite a while, months, I didn’t hear anything. And as it was not really priority and I didn’t feel anything about it, I didn’t do anything like following up, something I often do (persistence…). So a few weeks ago I received a letter from Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, which made me quite happy, as at least I got a reply to my strange letter, my strange request. And I was a bit scared to open the letter at first, but after one or two days I opened the letter to see what the President of Mitsubishi Motors Corporation had done with my strange request.

And I was a bit disappointed. Or actually a lot. As it seemed my letter apparently hadn’t reached Mr. Takashi Nishioka, the President of Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, the person I was trying to reach. Apparently the letter had been passed to the marketing department of Mitsubishi Motors Corporation and was handled with what felt like a standard reply to Mitsubishi Pajero enthusiasts. Something like that they were happy with my interest in a Mitsubishi Pajero, but that Mitsubishi Motors Corporation does not sell cars themselves and that I should contact the local representation in The Philippines. And yes, the address was provided, but no name of a contact person or anything and the postal code was missing.

And of course this letter made me think of leadership, the leadership that Napoleon Hill mentions when he states that leadership requires delegation to capable lieutenants, so a leader can appear to be in many places at the same time and can handle many things at the same time. And to me Mr. Takashi Nishioka did not really pass the leadership test, as my letter was intended to be personally read by him, which I thought I stated pretty clearly, and not to be handled by the marketing department of Mitsubishi Motors Corporation. Actually I would have appreciated a simple one sentence letter stating that he had received my letter with his signature, than a more or less standard letter from the marketing department. Anyhow, of course it is up to him or Mitsubishi how to deal with with this, so please don’t misunderstand, as I mean no offense here or anything. I made and sent the letter and just released it to The Universe, and this is what I got.

And of course, me being me, persistent and dreaming and taking action, decided to see if I could get something more. So I did two things:

I wrote a letter to Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corporation as suggested, without any research, so I didn’t add the name of the CEO or anything.
I wrote a second letter to Mr. Takashi Nishioka as I wanted to inform him about my feelings about the handling of my first letter.

And I guess it will take a while again before I hear anything related to (1) as PHLPOST took months to deliver the first letter, but today I got an e-mail from Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corporation relating to my letter, which kind of made me happy, as the tone of the letter was very accommodating, even though I had the feeling that Mitsubishi Philippines didn’t really know what to do with my request, which of course is logical.

Ah, and one of the reasons to write this post, or actually the main reason, was that Mitsubishi Philippines stated that the car I have in mind is only available with automatic transmission in The Philippines. And that statement made me think, made me think a lot. Because how far should I go, should you go, to get exactly what you want. Something like “if Mitsubishi would decide to give me a black Pajero, highest model, diesel, with automatic transmission, should I take it or not?”.

Very interesting question to me, which made me think again about the phrase “Be careful what you wish for”.