At What Cost?
Ali Hafed was a wealthy man. He owned a large farm in ancient Persia. He had gardens, fields, and orchards. As Russell Conwell writes in his book, Acres of Diamonds, Ali was “content because he was wealthy, and wealthy because he was content”. He worked his land, made plenty of money, and lived happily with his family.
One day, a priest came to Ali’s farm. They sat by the fire discussing mysteries of the universe when the priest told Ali about diamonds. He described them as “congealed drops of sunlight”. The priest told Ali one diamond the size of his thumb would provide him with enough to purchase his whole county. A diamond mine would make him rich beyond his wildest dreams.
Ali would never be content again—not until he found these drops of sunlight. He began his search immediately. He eventually sold his farm and left his family to search for a new land of riches.
Years came and went as Ali continued his search. He became more and more depressed. Until one day, he threw himself off a cliff to his death.
Years later, the man that bought Ali's land was walking near a stream on his property. He saw a twinkle of light from the water. He pulled the source of the glimmer from the water, cleaned it off, and placed it on his mantle. He thought nothing of it. Several weeks later, a friend stopped by and saw the crystal on the mantle. He was elated to be holding a diamond in his hand. The owner found out that he was living on the largest diamond mine in the world.
Ali threw away everything—including his life—for riches he never needed. The painful irony just so happened to be that the thing was sitting in his backyard the whole time.
Ali was already content with his life and level of wealth. With ten times more wealth, would he have been ten times more content? Would 100 times more money make him 100 times happier? Doubtful. Yet he did it anyway.
Desires have a cost
I want to be a millionaire
I want to be a billionaire
I want a nicer car
I want a huge house
I want to be the CEO
I want to be famous
These are desires that—in some form or fashion—we’ve all thought about.
Power, money, status. These things are part of being human.
But how often do you stop and ask “at what cost?”. I don’t think Ali ever stopped to ask that question. Had he asked it, I can’t help but wonder how different his life would’ve been.
The hidden costs of life are the ones to pay the most attention to. Stress. Time away from those you love. Freedom. These are the prices often paid to capture our desires. We don’t always think about the price of a life lived until the price has already been paid.
Any level of success comes at a sacrifice. Every piece of progress comes with a price tag of pain. I think the goal is simply to bring to light the cost of achievement. Maybe it’s worth paying, maybe it’s not—that’s for you to decide. Either way, I think it’s a question worth reflecting on before you travel the road rather than after.
The story of Ali makes me think of a quote from Morgan Housel:
“Don’t sacrifice what you have for what you don’t really need”
I think about this all the time. Only you can decide when it’s worth paying the price and when it’s not.
But remember to pause every once in a while and ask, “at what cost?”.
Here’s to making money matter!