Las Vegas is One Crazy Ass City

Vegas.

Man… that’s one crazy ass city.

I just returned from getting married in Las Vegas about a month ago (yes, it was planned), where I took that picture from our hotel room at The Mirage.

It was my first time there. I heard it was going to be an awesome experience, but I had no idea how amazing it really was.

The entire time, I couldn’t help thinking how completely nuts it’s founders and developers must have been to have dreamed up this city.

I mean to me at the time, it was like they just picked a random spot in the desert and decided, “Hey, let’s build a bunch of casinos and hope people come.”

What a crazy place for a town like this, right?

I eventually read up on the history of Las Vegas and found out it was initially conceived as a pit stop on the trade routes out west, then through a few conveniences like the building of the Hoover Dam, and the World Wars, it became a tourist attraction for men needing something to do.

Through in influx of cash from organized crime, and eventually the building of today’s megaresorts like The Mirage from the photo above, it turned into the Las Vegas as we know it today.

Where am I going with all of this?

Well, while I was roaming the strip in Vegas taking pictures like this one of me in front of Caesar’s Palace with the dude from the Hangover (a professional lookalike who was raking it in), I couldn’t help but wonder about the person who first came up with the idea of today’s Las Vegas.

I later learned the founder of Las Vegas as we know it was named Howard Hughes, who was responsible for taking Las Vegas from a crime-ridden Mafia dump, to a refined (some even say family friendly) place of luxury.

But what must people have thought when he told them his idea?

“I’m going to take this city and turn it into one of the largest and most glamorous tourist destinations in the world.”

I bet he was laughed at, ridiculed, and criticized every chance people got.

But look what he helped to build. Look what Las Vegas is now.

What’s Your Crazy Ass Idea?

My point of all of this is to try to get across that the most amazing things in the world are usually thought of as incredibly insane when they are first conceived as thought.

• Landing on the Moon
• The Internet
• The iPhone
• Las Vegas

At one point all of these were wildly insane ideas.

And now they’re completely commonplace because the people who conceived them had the courage to stand up for their ideas and see them through.

They didn’t listen to the naysayers who told them their ideas were silly. They didn’t listen to the critics who told them they were wasting their time.

They knew they had great ideas and they knew that if they worked hard enough, their ideas would succeed.

And that’s what I want you to do as well.

Don’t Listen to the Naysayers

People will tell you that your ideas are stupid. People will criticize you for being different and bold. But most often, they just don’t understand.

Even your friends and family will question why you do what you do, and even sometimes most often.

In fact, I get made fun of and ridiculed on a regular basis for running this website. Some people question why I do it. Others tell me I should be focusing on other things. Most talk behind my back.

But I don’t care. The good far outweighs the bad for me, and I know if I keep at it, this website will be a vehicle to help a lot of people.

Through all of it, you and I both have to focus on the positives.

• Focus on those you can help
• Focus on the problems you can solve
• And focus on the good you can bring to the world

Odds are, those people who are telling you that your ideas are silly, probably aren’t out there doing much of anything themselves. Usually those that are will support you.

• Surround yourself with success and people that will encourage your creative thinking
• Find people in your life that will help incubate your ideas instead of belittle them
• And take pride in the fact that you think differently than the rest. It’s the bold among us who are the greatest successes.

Your Self Improvement Challenge

So, with that I challenge you to think about that “wild” idea that you have?

Are you letting limiting beliefs about yourself hold you back? Are you letting the fear of the unknown, or what others might think get in your way of potentially doing something great?

If Howard Hughes hadn’t had the guts to light up Las Vegas, I would’ve had to find another place to get married.

You don’t want to deprive the world of what you have to offer now do you?

Go do something great. Take that crazy idea and get started today.

PS: I have a lot more pictures. Toss me a comment if you guys want to see more of them. I’ll create an album if there’s enough interest.