This weekend I had the privilege of spending Saturday morning with a wonderful group of people in Louisville as I presented my seminar on great relationships.
The event took place at the historic Seelbach Hotel, which is now part of the Hilton chain.
Built in 1905, the Seelbach truly exemplifies the title of "Louisville's Grand Hotel."
It was the brothers Louis and Otto Seelbach, who came from Germany to Louisville around 1870, that started this tradition with the opening of a bar, which became very popular.
That led to a small hotel known as the Seelbach European Hotel at Sixth and Main streets in 1891.
Eventually, in 1905, they completed the building of a new and much grander hotel at Fourth and Walnut (now Muhammad Ali Boulevard). Twenty-five thousand people visited the new hotel on its opening day.
To see the grandeur of this magnificent place, where seven U.S. presidents have stayed, you'll have to come and visit.
For the purpose of this column, I'd like to invite you to take the grand stairway from the beautiful lobby and go to the next level. That is where you'll find the lavish Oakroom Restaurant on the right.
As you enter the restaurant, turn to the left and that's where you'll find the old Poker Room. It is now an exquisite private dining room that seats about 12.
In my room at the Seelbach, there was a beautiful book that was written about the history of the hotel. I met the author, Larry Johnson, who has worked at the hotel for many years and is the historian of the place.
In the book, Larry writes the following about the old Poker Room: "Al Capone, Dutch Schultz and Lucky Luciano visited the Seelbach during the Roaring '20s to do a little friendly gambling, which was, of course, illegal.
The door to the Poker Room where they hung out was spring-loaded, and if the police happened to come into the lobby someone would push a button and the doors would close and the players knew to get their money off the table.
Stories have been told about Al Capone playing cards one night in the late 1920s when the door suddenly closed. He got up and went through a small hidden door to a staircase that went down to the basement kitchen, and from there he went down another staircase to the sub-basement and took the drainage tunnel under the city for several blocks."
So, as you walk into the Oakroom Restaurant at the Seelbach, I suggest you turn to the left and then enter the old Poker Room. Al Capone's secret door will be in the far left corner. It looks like part of the paneling. However, at closer inspection, it does reveal its original purpose. After being featured on a Discovery Channel television program, this secret door was sealed forever.
The message here is that Al Capone, understandably for the time, had an escape route. For him, and the other gamblers, that was probably a good idea.
However, for most of us, an escape route can hinder our success. If we allow our minds to entertain a way out, we may not commit with the determination necessary to achieve success.
What if we burned our bridges behind us and had to succeed? Would we make an extra effort? Would we give a goal everything we had? Absolutely!
Why gamble with your future? What if the secret door to your escape route was shut tight forever? I think you would make a total commitment and I think you would win! I think your ultimate results would be much better than those of Al Capone.
A commitment affirmation
I make a total commitment to my goals. I am a Champion!
Rauchwerger is a speaker, trainer, author and high-performance coach to CEOs. If you have a question or want to supercharge your company, contact him at 619-723-3007 or e-mail boaz.rauchwerger@sddt.com. Comments may be published as Letters to the Editor.
Print
E-Mail
