Plans for the World’s Greatest Underground Fort began in second grade.
It started as a simple hole in the woods by my house, but over the years, it grew to become bigger than the Batcave. Planned features included a secret entrance, retina scan (I considered fingerprints, but what if someone tried to chop off a thumb just to get inside?!) booby traps, batting cages, robot laboratories and slides.
The following video served as a model for the slides.*
*Obviously, the marble would be a person, but everything else would remain EXACTLY the same.
The theme music would play as soon as I sat my butt on the slide, I’d be greeted by my robot butler when I reached the bottom, then I’d spend hours practicing the world’s most devastating curveball.
For years, every time class got boring or the summer days got long, I’d go back to my fort. I drew up closely guarded blueprints and spent more time considering the logistics of pumping water for an underground moat than I did on the decision to buy the house that I currently live in.
I came close to breaking ground a few times, but never picked up a shovel.
Since then, I’ve had many more ideas. Within the last year, I’ve come up with two businesses, three books, six blogs, an app and A LOT of websites. I’ve almost become an eBay entrepreneur, a marketing guru, a magician and best friends with Mark Cuban. Although I’ve looked up a few domains and read the Shark Tank application, I’ve never quite pulled the trigger.
One thing that I’ve discovered is that big plans aren’t much fun when they’re just plans. That’s why you’re reading this right now.
Of course, I have giant plans for this blog. I’d love to not just share lessons I’ve learned from my most embarrassing stories, but also get friends on here to talk about their most embarrassing moments. Friends like Mark Cuban. I also wouldn’t complain if this got turned into a movie or, at the very least, a new show on the CW.
Most likely, only a few people will ever read this, and I’ll have fun writing stories that get illustrated by my brother. I’m OK with that too.
Sometimes, a hole in the ground is better than nothing.
Life Lesson #1
Holes are more fun than blueprints. Just start digging and see what happens.