This is a really great article that I believe applies to officials, just like it does to the executive who is also climbing the ladder of success. I couldn’t help but to share it with you.
Check out this article posted from LearnVest!
Like a classroom session I recently taught several referees, I have to tell you that running the business of being a referee is tricky. While we referees are independent contractors hired each year by several people, we don’t feel that we actually have the right to turn down a job ( or so it seems). To some degree, I understand this mindset of the assignors who hire us and want us to be loyal to them and take all their jobs, since I employee a lot of contractors in my other jobs, but the referee world is just different.
Here is a typical scenario I see year after year. Official A is just now breaking into college officiating. She has been going to Division I camps for two to three years and has finally gotten her big break. In her other job, she is a school teacher or salesperson…or maybe even owns her own small lawn care business. And she is so excited about her big break when she receives the news in early September.
This year, things will be different—she is on her way (at least so she thinks). She does all things correctly: she closes her dates to the DI assignor, pays her dues for her DII, Junior College and high school assignors, and continues studying her rules. But in the back of her mind, she is no longer going to work high school basketball—she is no longer going to deal with those parents, the male chauvinist boys’ coaches and those partners that don’t go to camp and half-ass the games. She is on her way.
And then she gets her Division I contract with two basketball games. Ugh! Two games!? Disappointment sets in, and she is completely discouraged. She guesses she will take all those games at the high school level after all. She will keep working at all levels. And when the high school assignor calls and asks if she can just work one Saturday tournament (three games) two-person, she feels like she can’t say no because he has given her her shot. She owes him and she wants to earn as much money as possible.
Fast-forward three years, and now this young lady is working 15 Division I games, the JuCo National Tournament, the Division II conference tournaments AND the high school playoffs! Wow! She is now working 100+games this season, and her day job is suffering, her spouse is complaining, and her ankles and calves are starting to bother her more and more each morning. What is she going to do? Where is her career going? What should she stop doing?
So she looks at her line items of income and it looks something like this:
EOY referee income = $19,200
EOY day job income: $40,000
Now this young lady has some decisions to make. What I have seen over and over is the referee making a choice to continue refereeing those high school games that make up less than 3% of their total income but take up 35% of the nights away from home. If you find yourself in this scenario, my honest question to you is this: Is it worth it? Does this make good business sense?
The very toughest thing I had to do in my officiating career was to give up junior college officiating. I live in a region where I can referee a lot of junior college ball and I used junior college games to fill every “off night” of my Division I schedule. Then at the end of one year, I realized the wear and tear on my body and the game schedule was actually costing me in other areas of life. For those extra games, I now needed more physical therapy and more injury prevention gear (all costing me money). The long hard nights driving to and from games was costing me and though I was at the top of the junior college officiating ladder, and I needed to say no.
When I sat down and looked at the “money” of the decision, I decided I needed to give up that money (those games) for the good of my career…and my well being. This was a decision to let the money go!
Ironically, one year after that personal decision, I picked up more Division I games, better Division I games, and oh yeah…more money!!
You are an independent contractor and you should run your business to make as much money as possible, but don’t let money take your eyes off the important things like your “_________.” (you fill in the blank)
Moral of the story — sometimes you have to let the money go to earn more money.
Referencing last week’s post 1 of this series…. 1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about how much of my life is evaluated through an “after divorce” lens. Have you ever had one of those life-changing experiences where everything else that happens is counted or measured in relation to that one event or experience? For example, do you find that everything correlates to the birth of a child, the year you began your new business, or the year you graduated college (for you young’uns).
As regrettable as it is for me, I find that my life seems to be measured back to February 2012 – the time of my divorce. So here I am now entering year AD 3 (After Divorce year 3). And while the experience was horrible in the moment, I can actually recall the events now with some element of humor.
Because you know what? As of AD 3, I am a better friend, a better sister, a higher-level executive, and a richer and overall happier person than I was in the 10 years leading up to February 2012. And speaking of richer, I want you to know where my focus is in 2014 – MONEY. Yes, money. The root of all evil, for those misquoting the Bible. (See actual quote/verse below.)
10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
1 Timothy 6:10 King James Version (KJV)
In fact, I do not love money; I don’t even really like it all that much. But I love earning it! I love trying to make as much money as possible, give away as much as possible, and overall live as if it grows on trees. Does that sound familiar, contradictory or just plain stupid?
Let me explain over the next few blogs how I have come to realize that AD 3 RefWriter wants to be financially free and live like she doesn’t need the money. I am going to take control of my financial future for my businesses and my life. I am seriously focusing on financial freedom and personal legacy. Every day, I think about this. I ponder it, work on it and discuss it to ad nauseam with my friends.
For example, I was sitting with a referee friend about a month ago at a Division I Conference Tournament site, and we were discussing retirement, security and financial freedom. This particular friend is a guy who has put away money through the years and has a very nice retirement plan in place. He said to me, “When I retire, I am going to set up a Quick Loans shop and only loan to referees, because they are TERRIBLE MONEY MANAGERS. I could make a fortune.” After listening to a few examples and stories he shared, I realized he was right. Referees, like many other independent contractors, are terrible money managers. So I have a challenge for you: Let’s get better together.
Over the next few blogs posts, I plan to discuss the following four money topics:
And while I have always found ways to make a lot of money, I have never taken the proactive steps to put my money to work alongside me. I have been scared of the unknown and honestly, I have always found making money and spending it to be a lot more fun than making it and saving it.
However, I am breaking the chains of financial fear and I want you to do the same. I have found inspiration in this area from a few different books. So if you want to gain insight into where I am headed in my next few posts, consider reading these two books:
Here is an excerpt from the introduction to Financially Fearless:
“If this is the first time you’re thinking about this stuff seriously, you might think you don’t yet have a financial plan, but guess what? Not having a plan is a plan – just a really, really bad one.”
http://ncaachampionmagazine.org/features/earningthecall/#sthash.0Qr5yONQ.PbmBvVPI.dpbs
Congratulations on getting the call fellas! I could not have written a better blog so I wanted to share this one. Once again I remind my readers – referees are people too.
In a recent USA Today article, Jim Haney, executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) said: “There’s probably no more intense time of the season than right now. We’re talking about a time period where there’s a lot of pressure. Competitive juices are always higher. It’s a tougher time. Teams have been playing for three and a half months. They’re tired. Coaches are tired. Officials are tired.”
I have heard the argument a dozen times about referees taking on too many games, and that we shouldn’t work back-to-back days. I have heard all the reasons for this argument, and I don’t buy into the philosophy at all. HOWEVER, I do agree with Haney – it’s March and everyone is tired.
Many “part-time” referees have been officiating three to four games per week every single week since mid October, and now it is March – five months later! That’s a lot of games. This year, I wanted to understand the mileage logged in a game so I have been wearing my Jawbone Up. This season, I am tracking somewhere around three to five miles per game for three to four games per week, which should translate to somewhere between 10 to 20 miles per week.
In addition to those miles, I also try to lift weights and add additional cardio work to my week in order to stay in great shape. But hey, it’s March and some days I am just too tired for an extra workout! So how do I stay motivated through the final weeks of the season? How do I keep from feeling tired?
This year, I have been committed to be in the best shape I have been in in years because I am calling more games than in years past. I am also officiating bigger games than in the past, and I want to be fresh, healthy, and up for the challenge. So five months later, how am I keeping the workouts fresh and exciting? I have gotten out of my comfort zone this year because of the amount of travel I do, and it has been awesome and invigorating.
In addition to those boring hotel room treadmill runs, I have challenged a few of my girlfriends to begin training for a 100-mile bike ride, and I have been joining my friend Kara at random classes like Soul Cycle and Barre.
This week, I am keeping it fresh by trying a boot camp, and not just any bootcamp – Barry’s boot camp, yikes!
I would love to hear about your workout strategy for the duration of the season, especially in this FINAL STRETCH (BTW, don’t forget to stretch).
To Referee the Game - You Gotta Know the Rules 