Abraham Oviedo
Professor Agregán
English 100
2/23/15
A Million Suns An entrepreneur is a human being that has accomplished being successful in a job that they love to do and excel at. Much can be said about one such entrepreneur whose name is Carlos Slim; he fits the definition of a very successful entrepreneur. A family man, surrounded with education since childhood, Slim constantly proved the importance of school and taking risks. In the early 1900’s his father “escaped the Ottoman Empire to avoid being forced into the army at age 14” (“Carlos Slim Helú Biography”). Good thing he did too, perhaps he would have never had been the father of the most successful entrepreneur in the world. Success to most people might mean a load of money, and although it is true money is a part of success, the true success Slim swims in is that of doing something he is good at, and makes a living from it. Throughout his life he displayed the characteristics of determination, perseverance, and a pleasant humble attitude. Slim proves that to get to the top, you have to be determined of what your dreams are, stay optimistic even when things do not look so bright, and when your dreams pull through in the end, stay humble.
The life of Slim has not always been the brightest, but even through the dark times in his life and the brightest ones, by keeping those three characteristics, he pulled through the bumpy road of his life. Much like his father, Carlos is very intelligent, good with numbers, owning/fixing up businesses and making them worth a lot more money. It is true success that he indeed made it through an uneasy life, standing strong and firm without being wavered. His life story constantly encourages so many people around the world to continue striving for the best, especially since he started from the bottom and pushed his way to the top. In his life another thing that is learned is that yes, bad things happen in life that is normal, but do not stay on the same chapter of your life you have to move on, flip the page and keep living. Most of all, when you flip the page and moved on from any hard situation, inspire others but do not boast about your accomplishments. Determination has always been something huge Slim hung on to since he was a little boy. He was only 12 when he already started buying shares in the “Bank of Mexico in 1952” (“Carlos Slim Helú Biography”). His father surely taught him best while he was still alive in Carlos’s lifetime. Slim was even determined in education despite his parents making it something you could not live without, he respected his parents and for the sake of himself and his future he embraced school. Determination was far more proven when tragically his father passed away when he was only 13 years old. Many children would most likely give up on life or in education especially since a close guardian passed away. Thinking about it, imagine, this was the 1950’s and at that time the father was the one that did all the major work that got him money and kept the family financially stable. Even though his “dark cloud” covered the sun in his life for some time, he knew education was what his father would want him to continue to strive in. So through the hard time of his father’s passing, he was determined to excel in school, and business. “Carlos Slim Helú studied Civil Engineering at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (known by its Spanish acronym UNAM) School of Engineering, where he also taught Algebra and Linear Programming while studying for his degree, meaning that he was both a student and professor” (“Academy of Achievement”). He taught, and he had this amazing talent in which, he would see the potential “undervalued” businesses had, would own them, fix them up and overtime literally make them worth millions. It is clear, despite what anybody told him, as a business man he listened to himself (his instincts). “If you are in business, you are not enjoying. You are working” (“Brainy Quote”). Carlos himself said this and it certainly proves that he was determined to be in business and it seems like he knew, or he found out in the future that business is not fun. It is a pretty tough road but at the end of the day, hey, at least you get to do something you are good at. Perseverance played a huge role in the life of Carlos Slim. Perseverance was within him when his father passed away, it was with him in the economic crisis of 1982 in Mexico, and lastly when his wife passed away. In 1982, “Mexico was going through a debt crisis, nationalization of the banking system and the country’s finances nearly paralyzed, Carlos Slim and his Grupo Carso (Company owned by Carlos Slim), decided to invest heavily and actively” (“Carlos Slim Helú Biography”). Now this was a pretty risky scenario. Money is either lost or found. In this situation, money flowed in and proved to be good investments. Although it was a tough year, Carlos and his company persevered and still took risks making investments; in the long run it proved to be a step of success. In 1967 Carlos married Soumaya Doumit Gemayel and had a lovely 32 year relationship with her until she passed away due to kidney failure. Many may think, “Well what does that have to do with your career?” Actually it has a far greater impact on your career than many may think. Despite Slim’s wife (the love of his life) leaving him behind when she died, Slim persevered and continued his work. Having a longtime friend, a longtime love all of a sudden pass away is a very traumatizing thing. Yes he mourned, yes he was in pain and perhaps even still in pain today who knows, he still continued his job despite how hard it must have been. Here is another dark cloud that covered his sun, but with perseverance he got through it. “He described his wife as the love of his life and he learnt a lot from her about sculpture and painting. Their honeymoon was full of gallery visits” (“GHANA STAFF OMG”). Despite it all, Slim leaves off with a powerful sentence, “Do not allow negative feelings and emotions to control your mind. Emotional harm does not come from others; it is conceived and developed within ourselves” (“Do Not Allow Negative Feelings and Emotions to Control Your Mind”). Lastly, Slim is a very humble person. “The stock market goes up…and down,” and noted that his fortune could quickly drop” (Coster). It is quite amazing, a man worth $72 Billion, society would expect something prideful or something inspiring even. Instead Carlos Slim filled society’s ears with a simple, realistic, follow your dreams but do not smother yourself in wealth, type of answer. In the aftermath Slim succeeded in life and not resulting with a prideful heart, but with a heart of humility. “The biggest things in life are not materials,” (“Brainy Quote”), is a quote Slim said himself. From the perspective of the richest man in the world, here it is displayed that money or any material, is not the “biggest thing” in life. Carlos even states that “Money is not his goal and becoming the richest in the world is not a competition. He just wants to be a good businessman” (“Iyaniwura123”). They say what defines a person is their patience when they have nothing, and their attitude when they have everything. It seems like humility rewarded him big time because if he only wanted to be a good businessman, it sure is amazing how loads of money fell in his hands and without him even thinking he would be the richest man in the world. Slim is certainly grateful for his earnings and directions in life but he is not one to have others “praise him.” One powerful quote Slim shares is, “When you live for others’ opinions, you are dead. I don’t want to live thinking about how I’ll be remembered” (“Iyaniwura123”). It is quite true, when you live based on people’s opinions it’s sad to say but you will be let down and hurt many times. Humility truly is not defined until a person has everything in the world, then, they can prove it by their attitude and if their character has changed. Although Slim is a very humble person, it is quite evident as well that; he is an independent man that has no room for others’ opinions towards his job as a businessman. In the life of Carlos Slim it is tremendously evident that he is full of determination, perseverance and even humility. It might not have been an easy road for Slim but in the end it is clear that the sun is shining and it is bound to stay that way. Slim certainly, despite all the bad things that happened in his life, kept his head up and remembered the million suns in his life. Meaning that although he had many bad things happen in his life, he still had many other things to be happy about. To this day Carlos Slim is still the richest man in the world but in the aftermath he is full of humility and rather than brag about it, he feels quite fortunate to be where he is now. In his life it is even learned from the richest man in the world, that the material things in life, (money), are not what is most important here in the world or in life. “Live the present intensely and fully. Do not let the past be a burden, and let the future be an incentive. Each person forges his or her own destiny,” (“Do Not Allow Negative Feelings and Emotions to Control Your Mind”).