Remarkable

INTRODUCTION

Some years ago I wrote my first book, Crimeson , the story of my life. It wasn’t a great life. I was involved in crime and drugs at an early age, ending up out of school and homeless at 14. I lived a criminal life until the age of 22 when I ended up suicidal and wanting to commit murder.

In the midst of extremely dark times of depression and torment a miracle happened: God found me and reached out to me with his grace and love in my seemingly hopeless situation. I surrendered my life to him and he picked me up. He cleaned me up, restored me and made me a minister of the Gospel.

Two years after Crimeson I released my second book, Small Change, Big Change, a book about my financial journey from poverty on the streets to financial freedom, and how the financial principles I followed can help people on their own financial journey, and a year after that I released Be Inspired, the inspirational leadership book about the powerful principles that I had learnt over many years from some of the world’s great leaders, millionaires and world champion fighters that helped them to overcome the seemingly impossible. The reason I wrote these three books was so that my sons would know my story and the principles that I live by that have changed my life in a remarkable way when they grew up.

My motivation for writing the book you find in your hands right now comes from the same place. This book is for my two sons, Davis and Oskar. I want them to know about the transformational tools and techniques that I have learnt, taught and applied over the last 20 years that have lead me to live a remarkable life that has made a remarkable difference in thousands of peoples’ lives.

I love the word ‘remarkable’, and I live my life to make a remarkable difference in other people’s lives. I also hope that you can get a grasp on what is in my heart and mind when I think and speak about the word remarkable concerning my life and yours throughout this book. I have written some of the other words that are used to describe the word remarkable for you to think about.

Words like: extraordinary, exceptional, amazing, astonishing, astounding, marvellous, wonderful, sensational, stunning, incredible, unbelievable, miraculous, phenomenal , outstanding, impressive, memorable, unforgettable, out of the ordinary, surprising, fantastic, terrific, tremendous, awesome and some people may even describe the word remarkable as ‘amazeballs’.

My prayer for you is that this book will make a remarkable difference in your life and that the meanings behind the word remarkable will become a reality in your life.

Over the past 20 years I have spent a lot of money on my brain. I’ve met with, and asked many questions of many people including leaders, small business owners, those that have made wealth and then lost it, retired people, property developers and millionaires. I have even had the privilege of getting to know a billionaire, from whom I drew much wisdom and inspiration that has helped me immensely over the years. I have also spent many years learning from people in the service industry so I could learn how to serve people in a remarkable way that would bless them and make them feel valued and loved. I want to leave a legacy of blessing and wisdom to my family; a legacy that will affect future generations in a remarkable way.

In this book you will learn how to rediscover and maximise your gifts in a way that will help to make an amazing impact in your personal life, financial life, and professional life and towards the people that you meet as you travel along the winding road of life. As you read on, be prepared to roll with the punches and challenges that will be thrown at you as I share with you the keys that I have used over the years to unlock much blessing and break many mindsets in my life. If you are ready for change then your first step in the right direction is to make a commitment to yourself to finish reading this book, no matter how long it takes you. I believe you will be bigger for it. If you gain one remarkable change or one new idea that will help you in your personal life, then my work is done.

My hope is that you will be inspired as you read the remarkable stories of how God did amazing miracles for me and my family as we took up the challenge to put God first in our life and as we obeyed the challenges he gave us, even in the times that it seemed impossible. I hope that the remarkable principles that I have learned from great leaders, champions and loving servants over the years that have served me well and also led to me living a remarkable life will also serve you well and inspire you to serve other people in a remarkable way.

Justin Gardner

CHAPTER ONE

REMARKABLE LIVING

The old saying is true: you only get out of life what you put in. I am a student of life and I have a mind like a sponge that is absorbing wisdom and learning lessons everywhere I go. I learn what to do, what not to do and what to do better in a more excellent way. I have learnt that in life you can always do something better and usually all it takes to present a product or a service in a remarkable way is just a couple of little changes that makes you stand out from the crowd and gets other people remarking about their experience. Through the chapters of this book I want to challenge you to relook at the way you live, what you do in your daily life, and how you present yourself and your service to people with your body language, skills, talent and time. I want you to think about how often you are thoughtful towards people in your daily life; or another way to put it is, is your mind full of thoughts towards others? And are they good thoughts or bad thoughts or no thoughts at all?

Many people make the tragic mistake in their life of valuing the wrong things and striving for things that at the end of the day aren’t all that important. The most important things in life are people and relationships, and the amazing thing about them is that all the things that are important to you, apart from them, are connected to them.

I want you to look at yourself with fresh eyes and ask yourself the question: Can I make any small changes now that will result in me presenting a better product, a better attitude and a better experience for people, adding greater value towards people or into the marketplace and providing a better service in a remarkable way or in a way that will cause people to remark about their experience in a positive way to others? I have spent the last twenty years of my life learning all I can from great mentors and leaders in many different walks of life with the heart to discover the gifts that are inside me and with an insatiable appetite to develop those gifts and use them to be of help to people in the most remarkable way possible.

Here is one example of what I am getting at: I love to eat out in restaurants for business and pleasure and I travel a lot for work, as well as with my family on holidays. We are ‘foodies’, and as such we like to eat in some of the best restaurants in the country, not to mention the world. My wife studies restaurants and reads reviews for six months before we go on our family trip, and then she books great food experiences, alongside great tourist experiences. Accordingly that makes for a great holiday, which in turn creates a great family memory. Many people over the years have thought my wife was over the top with her love for travel and food and the amount of energy and time she put into developing her gifts. They didn’t understand her dedication to detailed planning and passion for food and travel. But as she followed her passion and did what others didn’t value or understand, doors of opportunity began to open for her, so much so that today she gets to help custom make travel experiences of a lifetime for people and their families.

She has also created streams of income from her passion and hard work and today it is not uncommon for her to be invited to eat at many restaurants and famous chef’s opening nights as a VIP guest along with TV celebrities and famous foodies. I should mention that as a bonus I get to share the experience along with her.

Through my work and our family’s travel and food adventures I am always learning about service, excellence and culture and I get to adapt what I learn into what I do in my daily life, and the results over the years have been outstanding. One of the restaurants I love to eat in has a remarkable service they provide that I have not experienced in any other restaurant. At first the service seems about the same as most other quality restaurants: a gentleman greets you, seats you and offers to take your jacket. The staff are well trained, well dressed and well-mannered and it is quite a pleasant experience when you first arrive. But here is the remarkable and thoughtful act of service that blows my mind: when it is time to drape the napkin across your lap before your meal is served, the waiter looks at the colour pants that you and your dinner guest are wearing. He chooses a white napkin for my guest if he is wearing light pants and he chooses a black napkin for me if I am wearing dark pants, so that no white lint from the white napkin would get on my suit pants.

Now it is very common for 5 star restaurants to provide this great service to their customers with the same effort and professionalism, but the difference with this restaurant is they are doing the same thing as the others, but with a twist. They have taken their service to another level in a remarkable way with a very small change, and all they had to do was order a different colour of napkin to what other restaurants were using. What I learnt from this experience was that small changes done in an excellent way leave people with a remarkable experience, and if you will live to provide people with remarkable service in your everyday life then you will find doors of favour, opportunity and reward opening for you in a remarkable way.

I was so impressed with the waiter’s service and with the thoughtful gesture of the black napkin draped across my black suit pants that I made sure that I left him a remarkable tip to show my gratitude for his service. As a result I can tell you that I have taken many people to that restaurant over the years and the restaurant has made many thousands of dollars from me, all because of a small act of service done in a remarkable way. Many people are not waking up daily with the thought in their mind to provide remarkable experiences to the people they will meet and people they will serve with their gifts that day, and because of that they are just existing and never truly living their life to the full. I have written the pages contained in this book to help change that for you and my prayer is that your life will take a radical shift in a remarkable direction after making some small and consistent changes in your daily habits.

In life it is really the small changes that make the greatest impact and the greatest overall changes over time. So don’t despise or undervalue the small changes, the small attitude readjustments, the small acts of kindness, the small words of encouragement and the small prayers, because God has designed it so that anything big first starts small. God hides big things in small packages. You just have a look at a small seed: God hides thousands of trees, forests and truck loads of fruit in one small seed, but to release the big hidden forests inside a small seed you need to take the small action of planting it. The same is true for your life: God has hidden small seeds inside you that contain big amounts of potential, but you must do the small things that other people overlook in order to release the remarkable potential and to ever see the fruit that God has planned to grow from your life. That fruit is always meant to bless others and to give them a taste of God’s goodness through serving the fruit in a remarkable way with an attitude that reflects the nature of God.

THE CREATION OF A THOUSAND FORESTS IS IN ONE ACORN. RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Some years ago I was out with a group of friends in a rural part of Africa looking for orphans to save from poverty, homelessness and abuse. Our goal was to give them a home, education and help provide a safe environment for them that will release their hidden potential, in turn leading to them living a remarkable life. It was a very hot day and myself and three other friends travelled through dusty and deserted roads to investigate reports of children who were orphaned and out of school, with no real hope of a safe home, nor a prosperous future.

This was my second time in Africa and I had already seen the poverty and the slums and looked into many children’s faces and seen nothing but a blank stare on their face and in their eyes. They were filled with fear and a loss of hope, and I had also seen that haunting look change within weeks of providing a safe environment of family, love and security for orphaned children over the years.

The miracle that takes place in the life of an orphaned child when they are given a loving family environment and safety is really one of the most amazing things I have ever seen, and the smile that rises on their faces as the fear shrinks from within their eyes is so beautiful that it can only be described as one of God’s amazing gifts to the world. I once heard Mother Teresa say that ‘a smile is the beginning of peace’, and I agree with her, but it is also in some circumstances the beginning of lifelong relationships, outstanding opportunities and some of life’s greatest memories.

Smiling is also one of the most forgotten practices in people’s private and professional lives and if you master the art of showing love through your smile, it will be a key to immeasurable treasures. Have a look around the world we live in today: people don’t smile at each other anymore or even look into each other’s eyes, which are the windows of our souls. I want you to think about practicing giving the gift of a smile to everyone you can in your private and professional life. At first it will feel strange, but you will definitely stand out from the frown crowd, and trust me, you will never regret it in the long run. Your reward will be great.

Just think about a time when you have walked into a store and the sales assistant behind the counter seemed annoyed at you for asking them for service. Take a moment to think about how that made you feel and how you reacted. My guess is you were annoyed, offended or even angry at the sales assistant’s attitude and most probably reacted in a similar spirit. If you really want to live a remarkable life, then you must master your emotions and choose to respond to people with love and the gift of a smile instead of reacting in the same way that somebody treats you. If you put ‘a smile on your dial’ as you approach a sales assistant that is showing a lack of enthusiasm or displaying a bad attitude, you will find that the atmosphere changes slightly. Further, if you want to take it to another level, then look to say something kind to them or complement them about something they are wearing, thus giving them dignity, whilst using your best manners and love, and nine times out of ten you will find that their service and attitude will change. You may even be surprised by them saying words like ‘have a nice day’, complete with a smile on their face, as you finish your business transaction in the store.

Phil 2:3-4: Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

The point I am getting at is that you can change the atmosphere in negative environments if you will change the attitude inside of you and choose to be a blessing to people wherever you go. Why not change the way you look at the world and instead start to see yourself as a servant of life who is looking to provide a remarkable service to God’s kids. Instead of seeing God’s kids who are using their gifts as sales assistants, business owners, trades people, bank tellers and air hostesses as your servants, if you will make yourself a remarkable servant to God’s kids in life, then I promise you that you will reap remarkable rewards and see remarkable fruit develop through your life. This will be fruit that you didn’t even dream was possible.

Phil 2:5-7: Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

We find in God’s Word that as Christ followers we should have the same attitude as our Lord and He didn’t come to be served, but to serve others. Remember that every person you meet today is created in the image of God and because of that they are valuable and they should be treated in a valuable and remarkable way. You have one life, and you are on the main stage right now. This is not a dress rehearsal, so why not give the best performance you can. Why not smile and change every negative atmosphere you can. Why not serve as many people in an excellent and remarkable way as you can. Why not work on your manners, gifts and skills to improve the value that you add to people and also the marketplace.

Today many churches seem to have lost these powerful tools of the service trade, and maybe you need to start right there. Over many years I have travelled and spoken in many churches and I have witnessed way too many frowns and bad mannered people within the four walls of the church. These same people are wearing Christian labels that advertise service and love. By the way, if you add greater value to the market place through your job or business, you will eventually be rewarded financially through increased sales, promotions, business expansion, greater opportunities, responsibilities and pay rises. And that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Many people mistakenly think that they are working a 40 hour week in exchange for a certain amount of money. But that is not completely true. Firstly, it goes a lot deeper than that because they are exchanging a certain amount of their life every week for a