The next level personal development training

I wanted to be cool when I started to learn surfing. I never planned to get addicted; it just happened. I'm happy I did because I learned a lot, including from a personal development perspective.

Disclaimer, only two things can happen when you start learning how to surf; either you become addicted or hate it. There is no in-between.

This is a vital lesson I practice in life. The process of optimization and elimination - knowing when something is for me or not before diving deep to save time, effort, and money, and most importantly, avoid frustrations.

What did I learn from surfing which elevated my personal development if not, improved my life?

Patience. It takes patience to learn and improve in surfing. I love the ocean and its therapeutic character. It’s my best place for automatic meditation. However, the ocean is also unpredictable. Surfing requires waiting for the right wave, the perfect condition, the right position in the line-up, and most importantly, it takes time to reach a level. All of these require patience.

This is a good lesson applicable in life. The right opportunity, the right person, the right job, and the perfect timing to ask for a promotion or salary increase require patience.

Humility. Learning a new sport requires information and technique comprehension, then followed by execution. I worked in corporate and handled complex roles and projects. However, this experience does not necessarily translate to perfectly executing a series of instructions and techniques. I had certain circumstances where I fully understood the instructions but failed to perform. Then it hit me; it takes humility to accept harsh criticism from surf teachers who probably don’t have a degree. However, they know their craft and have been surfing since childhood. I took the harsh criticism positively and used it to improve.

Learning or mastering a skill requires rigorous training, practice, and experience. It requires humility to take criticism as constructive feedback. I made it a practice in my personal and professional life to always ask for feedback because I know this is an excellent way to improve.

Focus. We were never taught how to focus in school. We were only told to study, but learning requires focus. For somebody with ADHD, it's hard for me to focus. Being out there knowing that the ocean is unpredictable and that a wave might come anytime, there is always uncertainty. On a positive note, this atmosphere of uncertainty automatically triggered me to focus. I noticed my ability to focus improved over time to the extent that I became more present as I improved in surfing.

The ability to sustain focus for a certain duration to finish a task or reach an objective is challenging. It is an essential skill, especially in this digital world where distraction is everywhere.

Alertness. The byproduct of being focused is alertness—the ability to think clearly and react immediately when the situation calls for it. Surfing requires attentiveness to the next level because everything happens in split seconds.

This is a valuable life skill—the ability to be alert and improvise when the situation calls for it.

Perseverance and determination. Not everything comes easy. It's not easy to learn surfing, especially if you're not physically fit. I know that having the perseverance and determination to practice and aim at catching a wave will eventually get me there. I'm continuously improving every time I jump in the water.

The same goes in life; no matter how difficult the circumstances are to achieve a goal, through perseverance and determination, eventually, you will get there.

Confidence. No matter how hard it is to execute a series of movements in split seconds, with perseverance and determination comes the confidence and mindset I can. Having the confidence level to take a wave and commit to catching it makes a difference. After spending hours and hours in the water, I gained a certain level of confidence that I can, and I’m prepared for unknown risks and circumstances.

It's like receiving a make-or-break project and having the confidence to accept or decline it. Accept it because you know you're ready and confident you can. Decline it because you know you're not prepared, and it takes confidence to refuse such an opportunity. Whatever direction you choose, it takes confidence.

Managing stress and fear. One of the hardest things I learned in surfing is to stay calm when being wiped out by waves. I needed to relax and remain calm to prevent unnecessary body movements leading to oxygen consumption while being rolled over and over in the so-called “washing machine.” The other part is managing my fear that any mistake can lead to another wipeout.

Staying calm in the most stressful situation is difficult. The normal human reaction is to panic; however, panic only leads to wrong actions or decisions.

Resilience. One of the most challenging things to practice in life is accepting, dealing with frustrations, and bouncing back – resilience. There are days when I have a good session and days when I cannot even catch a wave in surfing. There are also days when I have the most adrenaline-pumping ride, followed by a massive wipeout. It's a roller coaster of emotions and frustrations. I learned how to deal with frustrations in split seconds because if I let frustrations overrule me, I would lose all the focus and alertness I needed.

We all face a roller coaster of emotions and frustrations in life. Our ability to deal with frustrations and bounce back is critical in helping us to keep moving until we achieve what we want.

Aiming for excellence. I jump in the water and surf whenever possible to practice and improve my level. Once I get hooked, I don't want to stop until I reach a certain level of excellence.

This is the same rule I apply in life. I always aim for excellence in everything that I commit to doing. If I cannot deliver good or excellent, I would rather not do it. Nothing is worst than delivering a mediocre job. Besides, I let my work and results do the talking.

Staying in form. Physically demanding sports like surfing requires being in good shape. My desire to improve my surfing level automatically triggered me to pay attention to the nutritional value, including the amount of alcohol I consume. I became a natural health-conscious buff.

Nothing beats a good form mentally, physically, and emotionally when trying to reach a specific goal in life.

So why I'm so addicted to surfing when the description above sounded challenging? Because it’s adrenalin pumping, and it makes me happy. It's the healthiest addictive drug that no words can describe the sensation when I’m riding the waves. I started to practice a healthy and disciplined lifestyle because of surfing.