SKOOL OF THOUGHT
Ever wonder why some officials get game after game while you're stuck waiting for your phone to ring?
I recently came across a story from entrepreneur Alex Hormozi, in his book $100M Leads, that changed how I think about getting assignments.
Stay with me—this isn't about business, it's about understanding why we're not getting the opportunities we think we deserve.
The Game We're All Playing 🎲
Hormozi tells a story about a dice game. You and a friend each get a die…one has 20 sides, one has 200 sides. On each die, only one side is green. The rest are red.
The goal: roll green as many times as you can.
The rules are simple:
You can't see how many sides your die has
When you roll green, one of your red sides turns green and you roll again
When you roll red, nothing happens and you roll again
The game ends when you stop rolling—and if you stop, you lose
So what do you do? You keep rolling.
At first, you hit red over and over. But eventually you hit green. Then another red streak. Then green again. And as more red sides turn green, the greens start happening more often.
Meanwhile, your friend rolls a few times, hits red, and complains that your die must be easier. He watches you hit green and assumes you got lucky.
He rolls a few more times in frustration, maybe hits one green, but spends more time watching and complaining than actually rolling. Eventually, he quits.
Here's the thing: Once you roll enough times, the die you're given doesn't matter.
The die with fewer sides might roll green sooner. The die with more sides might roll green later. But every die has a chance of rolling green—if you actually roll it.
When you look at other players, you have no idea if it's their 10th roll or their 10,000th. You don't know how "good" they were when they started. You only see how well they're doing now.
That's the game we're actually playing as officials, and most of us don't even realize it.
[Click here to hear the full ‘many sided die’ story]
The Reality We're All Living
We've all done the camps, passed the tests, invested in the gear, paid the fees, and shown up ready to work.
And yet, I (like many others) find myself at home on game nights watching the same officials get assigned over and over again.
We see people getting chances over us, knowing the work we have put in behind the scenes. The film study. The preparation. The availability.
It's frustrating. It feels personal at times.
But here's what I've realized, and maybe you have too: I'm often focused on the wrong thing.
We're Obsessing Over the Roll
Most of us (myself included) fixate on when we'll get our next game. When will the assigner call? When will I get my shot? When will I prove I belong?
We're waiting for the dice to roll. Waiting for that assignment notification, that schedule update, that opportunity to finally show what we can do.
But while we're waiting, we're missing something critical: We're not always building a dice worth rolling.
The Sides We're Not Adding
I know my own pitfalls. I know the areas where I still struggle to be consistent. I know the relationships I haven't invested in as much as I should.
In Hormozi's story, success isn't about perfecting one roll, it's about adding more sides to your die so you get more chances to succeed.
For us as officials, the "sides" aren't just the games we get assigned. They're everything else we do that creates opportunity:
Film study sessions we initiate on our own time
Relationships we build with assigners and fellow officials
Showing up early to observe other crews work
Volunteering for less desirable games nobody wants
Our reputation in group chats and official communities
The quality of our last performance influences whether we get the next one
Every one of these is another side on our die. Another opportunity for the roll to land in our favor.
The Officials Getting Games Aren't Just Lucky
In many cases, they've built a die with more sides. And I've learned to accept that.
They're not waiting for opportunity. They're manufacturing the conditions that create more opportunities.
They're not hoping for the call. They've made themselves the OBVIOUS CALL.
It's human nature to look up at someone else's die and wonder why theirs keeps landing favorably. We all do it. But that comparison doesn't add sides to our own die…it just makes us feel worse about our current roll.
What Are We Doing Between Rolls?
I've had to ask myself this question repeatedly: "What am I doing between games to make sure I get more?"
Because here's the hard truth I've had to accept: complaining about lack of opportunity while doing nothing to create opportunity is just noise.
We can't control when the dice gets rolled. We can't control when assigners make their decisions or who they're watching.
But we can absolutely control how many sides our dice has.
The Choice We Make Every Day
I can keep waiting for my shot, frustrated that the same people keep getting games.
Or I can keep adding sides to my die—even when it's inconvenient, even when I don't feel like it, even when I'm tired of the grind.
The officials who work the most aren't the luckiest. They're the ones who spent years adding sides while everyone else was waiting for their turn. I'm learning that lesson in real time, and I'm still working on it.
Some days I add sides. Some days I just keep rolling with what I've got and accept the outcome. That's part of the journey.
💭 What's one side you can add to your die this week? What's one thing you can do (that you aren’t already) that increases your odds of getting your next assignment? I'm asking myself the same question.
