New Year's Resolutions: Why Resolving to be a Better Official Isn't for Once a Year, but an Everyday Thing

If your New Year's resolution is to be a better official then you are doing it wrong. Just wait, I'm not trying to call anyone out. I'm saying that just because there is some arbitrary change in the calendar we should not make that a reason to try to do a better job. Being a better Official is something that we should be striving for in every game. Every time each of us puts on those stripes we should be trying to make ourselves better Referees or better Linesmen. Being better is always within our grasp. It just depends on how much time and effort we are willing to put in to do it.
I guess the question is; why do we do this job? Personally, its because I love this game more than I can put into words. So, with this much love why would I not spend every minute that I'm out there trying to get better? It wouldn't make sense. Anything that is worth this much time and effort is worth me continuing to learn. No matter how long I work in this game there is always somewhere that I need improvement. Some of these things are mental some physical. My number one place for improvement at this point is self-confidence. I'm having a lot of trouble right now believing in myself. There is a lot of self-doubt within me that I just can't seem to shake. I have so many people standing behind me that believe in me, but I just can't seem to find the handle on it. I know my weakness. Now what I have to do is trust in myself and my abilities. There is a reason these people stand behind me. They see what I still cannot. They trust me. What I must learn is to trust myself. This is something I have vowed to work on everyday. It's not a resolution, but an ongoing promise to myself and to those whom I work with and those who stand behind me. We all have a place for improvement. I'm sure that if you look within yourself you know that this goes for you as well.  
Learning is part of being who we are. We have to continuously adapt and change. We can't do this job effectively if we are not willing to do that. How you accomplish this is up to you. I do have a couple of suggestions. Use a couple minutes before every game to take out the rule book. Read and reread one rule. Just one. Spend 10 minutes doing this. It doesn't have to be some obscure one, any rule will work. If you do this before every game you will know every subtlety within that rule. Not only that, but knowing rule numbers destroys coaches' minds when they try to argue your calls. If you can quote back a rule number to them it proves you know exactly what you are talking about. I haven't had that not shut one up yet.
Ask questions. If you are working with a more experienced Official use that to your advantage. Older guys are great tools to learn from. They have been there. They have seen the things that you have not. Listen to them. They have been around and know how to handle difficult situations. Ask them lots of questions and don't be afraid to do so. They love that, I promise. I guarantee you that this is why most of them are there. They want to help you learn and grow. They want to know that when they step off of that ice for the last time that they have left the game that they love so dearly in confident and capable hands.
Getting to be a better Official is not something that happens because you make some meaningless pledge on January 1st to do so. It happens through hard work and continuous dedication. It is a promise to yourself. You have to be willing to admit that you can always get better. You will never be perfect. No official is. Every day and every game you have to make a decision whether or not you are going to grow or just go out there and earn a paycheck. Being great is not something that can or will ever be handed to you. You are going to have to work hard for it. It's not going to be easy, but if you love this game as much as I do then it will be well worth the effort.

 

 

P.S. Thank you to Steven Halber for the topic.