Work Hard

Just think of how much more work a tractor accomplishes now than when farming/ landscaping was done without the nice machines we have today.  Bottom line on tractors:  they work hard.  People have to operate them, but the work is done by the tractor.

Officiating is grueling physically, mentally, and emotionally.  We have to prepare each week and be ready to fully devote ourselves to the game we are assigned.  This was shared with me from www.jongordon.com:

No matter what anyone says, just show up and do the work.

If they praise you, show up and do the work.

If they criticize you, show up and do the work.

If no one even notices you, just show up and do the work.

Just keep showing up, doing the work, and leading the way.

Lead with passion.

Fuel up with optimism.

Have faith.

Power up with love.

Maintain hope.

Be stubborn.

Fight the good fight.

Refuse to give up.

Ignore the critics.

Believe in the impossible.

Show up.

Do the work.

As officials, we are rarely praised by the public.  Even behind the scenes, most of the feedback we receive is negative--what we missed or did wrong.  We have to be motivated to perform at a high level of officiating.  Review the list from Jon Gordon, do any of the items on the list keep us from working hard?  Does negativity get us down, do critics get in our head, do grades make us lose faith in our ability to officiate?

Here is the challenge—pick out the item(s) from the list above that keep you from focusing and working hard.  Concentrate on over-coming that item(s) this week to show up and do the work without regard from something that bothers us or gets in our way.

Ecclesiastes 11:4 If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done. 6 Be sure to stay busy and plant a variety of crops, for you never know which will grow — perhaps they all will.

Working hard means no excuses.  Whether we never get recognized or we are honored for our performance, we have a job to do and to work hard at it.

“He who waits until circumstances completely favor his undertaking, will never accomplish anything.”—Martin Luther