Surfer’s Code – 12 Simple Lessons for Business & Life

Shaun Tomson is a former World Surfing Champion, was born on August 21, 1955 in Durban, South Africa.

Shaun Tomson shares the life lessons he’s gathered from decades of surfing-from his boyhood adventures in South Africa to the world tour in the late 1970s to the business world today. 

For Tomson, surfing is a hobby, a sport, a religion, an obsession and more-it is a way of life. Tomson’s life lessons have guided his career to the top of both professional competition and the world of business. 

Now, he shares these powerful lessons, born on the world’s best swells, with all people-including those who might never step on a surfboard. These lessons are born of the collective wisdom of the surf community and are a powerful source of inspiration in the face of extraordinary challenges of every day life.

1. I will never turn my back on the ocean: Passion
2. I will paddle around the impact zone: No short cuts
3. I will take the drop with commitment: Courage, focus and determination
4. I will never fight a rip tide: The danger of pride and egotism
5. I will always paddle back out: Perseverance in the face of challenges
6. I will watch out for other surfers after a big set: Responsibility
7. I will know that there will always be another wave: Optimism
8. I will ride and not paddle into shore: Self-esteem
9. I will pass on my stoke to a non-surfer: Sharing knowledge and giving back
10. I will catch a wave every day, even in my mind: Imagination
11. I will realize that all surfers are joined by one ocean: Empathy
12. I will honor the sport of kings: Honor and integrity


"I tell people that I didn’t develop or create the code. I simply wrote down what was out there all the time in my heart and in the hearts of many surfers, always there but sometimes overlooked. I like to think the code was always there, a part of every surfer’s life, unspoken maybe, but in our hearts, ever since the ancient Polynesians started surfing so many thousands of years ago" - Shaun Tomson

Follow Tomson on Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | shauntomson.com

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