Why Do You Work?

In 1324 the Emperor of Mali, Mansa Musa, set off on a religious pilgrimage to Mecca required of able Muslims.

Estimates of his wealth in today's terms range from hundreds of billions to incalculable due to the Mali Empire's vast gold reserves.

His fortune came from Mali’s control of gold and salt trade routes across West Africa.

His caravan to Mecca was massive...

Historical sources say that it included tens of thousands of people...soldiers, attendants, scholars, and enslaved individuals...along with camels carrying immense quantities of gold.

Estimates vary, but the caravan may have included 60,000 people and 100 camel-loads of gold.

When Musa passed through Cairo, his lavish spending and distribution of gold reportedly flooded the market, causing significant inflation and devaluing the local currency.

Apparently the price of gold in Egypt dropped for years, possibly a decade, due to the sudden influx.

This is one of the earliest recorded instances of a single individual disrupting an economy through sheer wealth.

But here’s the thing: he didn’t make the journey for wealth or power.

He already had that.

He was searching for meaning.

His actions, like funding mosques (e.g., the Djinguereber Mosque in Timbuktu) and promoting scholarship, suggest a ruler concerned with legacy and faith.

Last weekend we had company over to the house for dinner.

My friend Scott recently retired in his early 50s...and I was really interested to learn why he made that decision.

He was the CEO of a large company, young (by my standards!), healthy and full of energy.

He said: “I was fortunate to make and save enough money so I asked myself -- Why do I work?”

His personal answer to that question gave him the green light to retire.

That question has been bouncing around in my head all week.

Why do I work?

I made a short list with some of the obvious things: Food, Shelter, Kids College, ect

It was a really uninspiring list...with a few ridiculous virtue signaling statements about 'serving and helping' people.

The last 2 Saturday Notes have been about finding hobbies (Link) and taking vacations (Link)...and the feedback has been awesome!

I think this question is a really important one to answer though...and people have been struggling with it for centuries.

Why do you work?

--> H/T to my friend Vince Caine helping me find a new hobby this week:

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