Shaun Tomson

Sometimes life’s waves knock you down; other times, life might seem to sweep you along powerless. But the choice is always yours to swim back up to the light. Legendary world champion surfer Shaun Tomson and international bestselling poet-philosopher Noah benShea join forces to offer you insight on a path of purpose, hope, and faith. This timely guidebook alternates between Tomson’s inspiring experiential essays and benShea’s spiritual commentary that lift the soul, all accented with stunning full-color surfing photographs.

After losing his son, Tomson walked the bitter road of loss and crossed from darkness into the light. The Surfer and the Sage addresses the ten relentless, breaking waves of life, from loss and aging to relationships and depression, and guides you to transformation. It is not a list of rules to follow that guarantee success, health, or wealth, but rather a collection of advice from two guides who have traveled far and wide and suffered deeply, but still look forward to tomorrow with faith and hope.

When faced with extraordinary challenges, we reach for the attitudes and positive outlook that will be necessary to not only survive the ups and downs of life, but to master them and emerge a winner Shaun Tomson has been called one of the greatest surfers of all time – he is a world champion, a best-selling author and a successful businessman who has founded and sold two $50 million dollar companies. Surfing is a passion, a lifestyle and a multi-billion dollar business and can teach some fundamental lessons about life and leadership, success and failure.

1.     Never turn your back on the ocean – maintain your passion for what you do while keeping an awareness for any potential danger or opportunity.
2.     Take the drop with commitment – success is dependent on facing one’s fears through absolute determination and focus
3.     Always paddle back out – never, ever give up no matter how severe the wipeout
4.     Never fight a rip tide – be aware of inexorable trends coursing through society and the markets. Be mindful that some of these trends are too powerful to fight. Know that you will succumb only if you panic.
5.     Realize there will always be another wave – maintain an optimistic and calm attitude in the knowledge that there will always be another opportunity.
6.     Share the stoke – be a mentor, share your knowledge. Give of yourself to others that are less fortunate. Be charitable. Doing good is good for business and good for the soul. Understand the successful relationships between all stakeholders are the key to a successful business.

Never fight a rip tide:  Be aware of inexorable trends coursing through society and the markets. Be mindful that some of these trends are too powerful to fight. Know that you will succumb only if you panic.

Paddle around the impact zone: Go around dangerous situations and conflict – don’t try and push through it. There may be many ways to approach difficult, unpleasant and dangerous situations. A head on assault is usually not the best strategy. Observe and study before plunging in.
Watch out for other surfers after a big set: Camaraderie and teamwork are key to success. We are all part of a wider community in life and in business and have a responsibility to others to watch out for other people as well – be compassionate and be empathetic
All surfers are joined by one ocean: We all work together towards the same mission. We are all part of a wider world – business is about creating joint success scenarios and not winning at all costs.
Ride, don’t paddle in to shore: Always ride it out to the end  – be it a relationship, a deal or a business venture. The law of diminishing intent states that intent diminishes over time so it is important to seize the opportunity and catch the wave when it comes. Complete what you start not because you have to but because it is the right thing to do.
Catch a wave every day, even in your mind: Take time out to escape the stress of life daily.Recharge your batteries, even by escaping in your mind. Relax time complements what you do in work time
Honor the sport of kings: Associate and benchmark yourself with honorable people. Be proud of what you do and what have selected as your profession. Do what you love and love what you do. Remember the honor embodied in a simple handshake. Respect yourself and respect others.

How to lead more effectively through: Commitment, Optimism, Determination and Empathy.

We all live in a challenging sea and our attitude towards those challenges defines who we are, and how we live our lives.
Our attitude about the present defines our future.
Our attitude about the future defines the present.
Our attitude defines how we see the world and how the world sees us.
Our attitude is the power that propels us on a journey from where we are, to where we want to be.
Our attitude is the light that can show us the way out darkness.

While we all have limited control over our circumstances, we have absolute control over our attitude. Attitude is the single most important determinant in success or failure – success is determined not by talent, not by education and not by DNA.

The Peak Performance Code is a simple, actionable and readily understandable collection of principles to build an attitude of absolute power, an attitude focused on realizing one’s potential, an attitude that enables one to perform at one’s peak. The code stresses the fundamental core business and life principles of commitment, optimism, determination and empathy.

Commitment: The inner force to face and conquer fear, the energy to pursue a goal.
Optimism: The vision and passion for the future, for change, for a new challenge.
Determination: The drive to overcome adversity and misfortune and constantly persevere.
Empathy: The understanding and appreciation that the world is not an island and that life and business are built on relationships with other people sharing the same dreams and aspirations.

Life is a series of choices and decisions and The Code is a simple actionable strategy for confronting everyday challenges and making positive, life-changing choices. In a series of metaphorical stories Shaun Tomson shares the power of “I Will”—a code that has carried him to the heights of professional success and helped him navigate the depths of profound grief after the loss of his teenage son, Mathew.

“All you need to turn hope into action is to write your promises down and say them out loud—to make a promise to no one but yourself. The Code is about many things—faith, courage, creativity, determination—but above all it’s about the promises we make to ourselves about the future. ”  – Shaun Tomson

The starting point is to develop a personal code of 12 promises to oneself, 12 lines, every line beginning with “I Will…”
When you think and write down your promises they develop great power – our thoughts are transformed from imagination to reality as letters, words and sentences – they are legible, tangible and actionable. Values and goals come to life as promises, as a series of commitments that form a roadmap for the future. 

Environmentalist of the year award winner, entrepreneur, author, board member of Surfrider Foundation, the world’s largest ocean environmental group discusses the new 21st business paradigm – Doing Good is good for business.

A focus on extreme quality, environmentalism, sustainability and community outreach can make your company recession proof.

Shaun discusses working at Patagonia, the world’s leading environmentally focused apparel company and how organic cotton, community outreach and a passion for quality transformed the company into a $500 million dollar company that influences every company in the $135 billion dollar apparel sector. He also talks about creating his own $50 million dollar company and how a focus on sustainability differentiated his company from the sea of competition.
He also discusses how philanthropy transformed his life and the lives of thousands of others and led him down an unexpected road of prosperity and self-fulfillment.

Do what you love and love what you do.

Passion fuels our purpose.

When faced with extraordinary challenges, we reach for the attitudes and positive outlook that will be necessary to not only survive the ups and downs of life, but to master them and emerge a winner.

Entrepreneur, environmentalist and author Shaun Tomson discusses how doing what he loved and following his passion helped transform his lifestyle into a multi billion dollar industry. Shaun Tomson has founded and sold two $50 million clothing brands – Instinct in the 80’s andSolitude in the 90’s. He is the author of the best-selling books Surfer’s Code and The Code, and the writer and producer of the award-winning documentary film Bustin’ Down the Door.He is a Business Administration and Finance graduate from the University of Natal. Shaun talks about entrepreneurship and business success based on his real life experiences of overcoming challenges, in and out of the surf. An attitude of Commitment and Positivity is the basis for his unique empowering business philosophy of I Will based on his book, Surfer’s Code12 Simple Lessons for Riding through Life. He has spoken internationally and inspired audiences as large as 3,000 people, has shared the stage with well-known personalities including Sir Richard Branson and Malcolm Gladwell, and addressed corporations like Disney and Google.

Life is a series of choices and decisions and The Code is a simple actionable strategy for confronting everyday challenges and making positive, life-changing choices. In a series of metaphorical stories World Surfing Champion, best selling author and successful entrepreneur Shaun Tomson shares the power of “I Will”—a code of absolute commitment and positivity that has carried him to the heights of professional success and helped him navigate the depths of profound grief and failure.

“All you need to turn hope into action is to write your promises down and say them out loud—to make a promise to no one but yourself. The Code is about many things—faith, courage, creativity, determination, perseverance —but above all it’s about the promises we make to ourselves about the future. ”  – Shaun Tomson

The starting point is to develop a personal code of 12 promises to oneself, 12 lines, every line beginning with “I Will…”
When you think and write down your promises they develop great power – our thoughts are transformed from imagination to reality as letters, words and sentences – they are legible, tangible and actionable. Values and goals come to life as promises, as a series of commitments that form a roadmap for the future…

You can’t just knock on the door if you want to be successful. Sometimes you just have to bust it down.

During the winter of 1975 in Hawaii, surfing was shaken to its core. A group of young surfers from Australia and South Africa sacrificed everything and put their lives on the line to create a sport, a culture, and an industry that is today worth billions of dollars and has captured the imagination of the world. With a radical new approach and a brash colonial attitude, these surfers crashed headlong into a culture that was not ready for revolution.

Shaun Tomson has been called one of the greatest surfers of all time and was part of a revolution that changed a lifestyle into a sport, which became a 16 billion dollar industry.

Along the way he built two $50 million dollar companies while having his share of wipeouts and near death experiences both in and out of the water.
Take a roller coaster ride with him on an epic journey to Hawaii, home of the world’s most dangerous waves and learn the fundamental business and life lessons that surfing has taught him about business and leadership.

A message of hope, optimism and faith in the face of profound personal tragedy. Shaun Tomson was at the pinnacle of his professional and personal life—former world champion surfer, successful entrepreneur of multimillion-dollar clothing brands and author—when his fifteen-year-old son Mathew died in a tragic accident. Drawing on the strength of lessons learned from his childhood in apartheid South Africa to competition in the world’s most dangerous waves, Tomson provides an inspirational account of facing life’s hardest challenges by looking toward the light that shines ahead. Tomson tells a story of terrible loss and miraculous rebirth and how our path forward from the darkness into the light is determined by our faith, attitude and core principles.

20,000 young people aged 15 – 24 die every year in the USA from preventable accidents, all caused by poor choices.

The Code is a simple exercise that empowers young people to make positive choices in their everyday lives. Built around 12 promises that young people make to themselves, The Code gives them an effective tool to navigate the rough waters of adolescence and young adulthood by asking them to visualize their futures. The power of writing—the power of affirming “I Will”—helps young people see beyond today and set a course for tomorrow.

When you think and write down your promises they develop great power – our thoughts are transformed from imagination to reality as letters, words and sentences – they are legible, tangible and actionable. Values and goals come to life as promises, as a series of commitments that form a powerful and personal code for today and tomorrow.

The ultimate goal of The Code is to create a wave of positive energy that keeps circling the globe, infusing everyone that comes across it with a powerful spark of hope for the future. For young people it is designed to create a feeling of confidence in oneself, an attitude of strength that results in positive decision making to combat despair, risky behavior and negative peer pressure.