ED 262 Above and Beyond the Call

Jim Rohn has been a virtual mentor of mine since I began my career many years ago.  I too cherish and am grateful for the many uplifting and thoughtful messages he shared with the world and planted in my spirit from the very beginning of my career.   Messages that encouraged and motivated me to purposefully decide and act upon how I would engage and lead in the pursuit of my goals.  Here are a few additional favorite Jim Rohn quotes that continue to inspire and speak to me as I go forward on my journey:

“Life expects us to make a reasonable amount of progress in a reasonable amount of time. That's why they make those second grade chairs so small.”  - Jim Rohn

“Never wish life were easier, wish that you were better. When you become better it will naturally become easier.” - Jim Rohn

"Let others lead small lives but not you.  Let others argue over small things, but not you.  Let others cry over small hurts, but not you.  Let others leave their future in someone else's hands, but not you." - Jim Rohn

"Motivation alone is not enough.  If you have an idiot and you motivate them, now you have a motivated idiot." - Jim Rohn

"Work harder on yourself, than you do on the job. You can't give more if you don't become more." - Jim Rohn

"The greatest gift you can give somebody is your own personal development. I used to say, "If you will take care of me, I will take care of you. "Now I say, I will take care of me for you, if you will take care of you for me." - Jim Rohn

"Miss a meal if you have to, but don't miss a book." - Jim Rohn

"We don’t get paid for the hour; we get paid for the value we bring to the hour." - Jim Rohn

"You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with." - Jim Rohn

“Managers help people see themselves as they are; Leaders help people to see themselves better than they are.” - Jim Rohn

"How long should you try? Until.” - Jim Rohn

"First come reasons, then come answers." - Jim Rohn

I use the words "BE GREAT" to remind me that it is up to me to seize the "moments that matter" that come into my life to do great things.  Just remember:

• Believe in the unique gifts and talents you have to offer the world; seed your talent and let it grow
• Express your knowledge, expertise and authentic self to accomplish great things; don't hide you

• Grab every "moment that matters"  by giving your very best, by doing what is doable
• Release your fears so you can embrace the possible and imagine a new way; make the unknown known 
• Enjoy the ride and the journey life is taking you on to be the person you want to be; to fulfill your life's purpose 
• Act with purpose, passion and power to inspire and generate action; to make a positive difference
• Trust that time will give you the opening and the opportunity to do great things; stay prepared and ready to seize the moment

"Born translator

His love for English was born out of his Afrikaans-speaking father's struggle to find work due to his limited command of English. 

“As a result, he was determined that I would be brought up as an English-speaker, and amazingly he and my mother stuck to this resolve despite their own limitations and the Afrikaner-nationalist censure they had to endure,” Boje said.

As an English-speaker in an Afrikaans-speaking family, he said he was a translator from birth. 

He translated texts from English to Afrikaans and from Afrikaans to English throughout his childhood. 

“I did it for the pleasure I derived from the challenge – the (im)possibility of saying something in one language successfully in another language” he said.

While completing matric at Wynberg Boys’ High School in 1953 he encountered an extract from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in his prescribed poetry anthology. 

“When I set about translating a few lines of the poem into Afrikaans, I little dreamt that this would become a lifelong hobby that would fill my leisure hours for the next 60 years. After I had translated the entire work, professor Molly Brown, Head of UP’s Department of English, suggested I consider a thesis reflecting on the project,” said Boje.

This then evolved into his theme for his PhD: "Save oure tonges difference: Reflections on translating Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales into Afrikaans". 

The thesis argues that translation is not between languages, but between cultures, and therefore between ideologies. 

“This has vast implications when one translates from a medieval, Catholic, European milieu into a modern, predominantly Calvinist, nationalist thought world in painful transition to a more liberal one,” he explains.

Dr Idette Noomé, Senior Lecturer in the Department of English, said: "Boje has an astounding breadth and depth of insight into the medieval world and South African current affairs. He completed this PhD in a mere 20 months.

"I think his sense of humour and passionate engagement with what he writes about connects him to Chaucer, enabling him to translate with such linguistic creativity, wit and empathy.”

Decade ago

Ten years ago, Boje's first PhD in History focused on the impact of the Anglo-Boer War on the people of the Winburg district in the Free State. 

Boje advised postgraduate students to choose a research topic that compelled and if possible, held personal significance to them.

"The first one was more challenging academically, because I knew nothing about Winburg and very little about the war. The second was easier from the point of view that, apart from the theoretical background of which my knowledge was more limited, it was about my own life, insights, knowledge and experience. The downside was that I was 10 years older and beginning to feel it,” Boje said.

Boje displays his characteristic good humour when asked what’s next on his to-do list. 

"Actually, I’m having fun translating 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' into Afrikaans,” he said."