Friday 6/6/2008

When most people think about Las Vegas they think about lights, shows, shopping, gambling, and any other host of interesting experiences but for me Las Vegas means one thing: stairs. Lots and lots of stairs. I was in Vegas this last weekend because I was keynoting a conference for the Young Insurance Brokers and Agents Conference, YBAC. As part of my preparation for the world tour I’ve made it common practice to request a room on the highest floor possible everywhere that I go. I wondered if I should maybe think twice about that policy as I was pulling up to my stay that the 51-floored Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino right off the strip. If I was ever going to be in an environment that doesn’t place a real high value on self-discipline where I might be tempted to cheat on my Take The Stairs tour it would be in Las Vegas. Something about being in that city just gives you a reason to indulge because our mind is constantly going “I’m in Vegas baby!”

The temptation to slide started right away when the man behind the check-in counter asked me “do you have any special room preferences?” I was proud of myself for at least requesting a room on the highest available floor. But when I explained that I was the “stairs guy” I immediately had another reason to cheat because he shared that there “is no public access to the stairs sir.” By this point in my journey I’m pretty used to hearing that objection and I’ve found that it’s mostly a matter or polite persistence that will get me around it. Yet the question for me was whether or not I should persist or simply use it as a reason to take the elevators. In some buildings, airports, and hotels it takes “an act of God” to get me in the stair wells but this time it only took an act of German – Hotel Manager German W. Brizuela that is. German’s genuine smile and legitimate concern for customer satisfaction had him on his walkie talkie pulling strings for me in no time. I was totally impressed with the Rio’s willingness to help me as part of their commitment to customer service. So fortunately (or unfortunately for my indulgent side) I once again was climbing up and down to my room on the 35th floor for 2 days in Vegas.

All weekend long I watched closely at how people responded to the different temptations Vegas has to offer. And while I definitely believe in having fun, staying balanced and kicking back on a regular basis, it’s important for us to have certain unconditional commitments in our life. What reasons do you have in your life to break your commitments? In any endeavor or pursuit there are always reasons why we can’t do something or why it’s okay for us to “let it slide this time”. Which I guess is why being disciplined and being successful causes us to learn to be "unreasonable".

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