Motivational Mondays (Dec. 8)

It's the start of a new week but that doesn't mean I'm quite motivated. Today is the start of another long week but will be the only day of the week in which I'll get some actual peace and quiet. I've got soccer games Tuesday through Friday as well as three games on Saturday (yes, three).

I'm getting more and more comfortable settling into games as I talk to fellow refs about how they handle certain situations. This week I will actually have two varsity games so I won't be alone for those matches, and the other two are within a mile or two of my house so no driving too many long distances.

But still, I'm not going to let relatively minor things dominate my entire week. In the grand scheme of things, those games are important but I don't want to have to worry about that and overlook other things. I still have to get my girls dressed every day, get my oldest to school five times, my youngest three times, make sure they are fed after school, taken over to their sitter's for the afternoon; and on top of that I've got to get the house in order, go to the grocery store, plan out the week's meals (lunches and dinners) and, oh yeah, Christmas shopping.

So the slate gets filled pretty quickly. And while it's easy to feel overwhelmed, you just have to remain focused on your goals. Times like these, and lately that's been every week, you need to think about your goals and plan other things around it.

My fitness goals for this week... mostly, those will be taken care of by reffing. However, I would like to get in one or two distance runs this week as crazy as that may seem. I will have time Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings to go to the gym or run around my block. Games have done me well in terms of providing me the fitness I need and I don't see that slowing down.

Also, I've got to hit my nutritional goals. I had an off week in terms of sweets, mostly because of the weekend. But I will get some greens into my meals this week. Spinach would be good. Maybe some broccoli. I've done well to get sweet potatoes regularly into the rotation, so that's another veggie I can count on. I may get some carrots to provide myself a healthy snack option. Apples and oranges and bananas are plentiful.

So when trying to sort out my week, all I have to do is focus on my goals in order to help get me through. Goals are vital, whether they are long-term goals (I want to run a whatever race whatever months from now) or short-term goals (I want to incorporate broccoli into tonight's dinner). It gives you something to shoot for and that's a great starting point.