Not quite a decade ago, my wife and I were heading to Toronto for the weekend.

We were going to a political leadership convention, and most of the hotels in the surrounding area were completely booked.

After doing an intensive web search, I found a place in the heart of Toronto that had rooms available, and they weren’t charging an arm or a leg.

It wasn’t part of an established hotel chain like a Marriott or a Holiday Inn, but that shouldn’t really matter (or so I thought).

We drove by the building but didn’t see the hotel at first glance.

In fact, we went right past it several times.

What stood in front of where we thought the hotel should be was a gentleman’s club.

Then we looked up and saw the sign.

The hotel was in the same building as the club.

We awkwardly and reluctantly made our way to the entrance and made sure we walked through the correct door.

As we laid in bed on the 2nd floor, we felt the thumping bass from the music below us.

At that point, we knew that neither of us were going to have a very good night’s sleep that night.

If there was one important lesson I got from this it was:

You get what you pay for.

We can’t pay Taco Bell prices, and expect Outback Steakhouse flavor.

We can’t spend Chuck E Cheese money and expect a Walt Disney World experience.

You can’t put in a rec-league effort and expect major-league results.

You can’t have a millionaire lifestyle with a minimum wage mindset.

Instead, find out what success costs, and be willing to pay full price.

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