Matt started surfing when he was 6 years old, in Cape Town, South Africa. He grew to become  one of the best big wave surfers in the world. He watches the globe for large storms, and when all the elements come together, book's a ticket and chases the energy across the world. He documents the big waves these storms create and produces high quality content which is distributed through various global media platforms.Matt's other passion is sharing his experiences to inspire and empower people to ride their "big waves".

I'm passionate about helping others. I've worked in design, web development, and marketing. All of those experiences have been an important part of my career journey.

I'm learning to love running. I'm a new Track & Field fan, a die-hard hockey fan, and I truly believe there's nothing a trip to the beach can't fix.

How do you thrive in the big storms, while most would be overcome by nerves?

So thriving in the big storms instead of being overcome by the nerves and anxiety this is a really really difficult one. I'm naturally a very conservative person and risk averse so for me facing challenges and fear does not come easy at all. However over the years I've been exposed to these terrifying situations over and over again so one of the ways that I overcome the fear is I try to build anticipation. So if we think of the storm coming if I think of it as oh maybe I'm gonna wipe out or something bad's gonna happen or am I ready for this oh my gosh the waves are gonna be huge that guy surfs way better than me and especially if I expect a negative outcome from that storm I'm gonna have anxiety and worry. However if I look at that storm and I expect a desirable outcome like I think oh I'm gonna get the biggest wave of my life I'm gonna get the ride of my life it's gonna be huge but that's gonna that's gonna give me the opportunity to get the wave that I have dreamt of. If I expect a positive outcome it's gonna make me excited so I really try to build anticipation because when we build anticipation it creates energy and that's often the very energy that we need to achieve the goal that we have set out so I try to get super excited, build anticipation and that gets me pumped.

In order to thrive in big storms instead of being overcome by nerves and anxiety, I try to build anticipation. I do this by expecting a positive outcome from the storm rather than a negative one. This creates energy which can help me achieve my goals.

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How do you remain calm when a big set of waves comes your way?

Hey so when I see the horizon go dark with a big set of waves approaching my immediate reaction is fear and my instinct is telling me conserve myself preserve myself paddle for the horizon get out of here so I'm I one of the ways that I kind of overcome that is I start talking to myself and when I'm out there in the waves are big I'm talking to myself the whole time so I start saying to myself yes bring it on let's do this bring me my wave my the biggest wave and I start just like throwing out statements in my head even out loud positive statements that affirm my ability that affirm that I want this wave I want this challenge to come my way and as I start to speak these things I can feel my whole energy changing from like this backing out approach to leaning in and leaning into the challenge so I'm constantly just I'm like talking to myself shouting out let's go come on let's go getting myself revved up and and I feel like that makes a huge huge difference just that talking to myself helps me to get the front foot forward kind of mindset because when the big wave pops up I've got to be in a yes mentality to say yes and and go and paddle with into that wave with no hesitation so I really try and develop that front forward yes mentality and I do that through through just like these statements that give me energy

When I see a big wave approaching, my first reaction is fear. To overcome this fear I start talking to myself, saying positive affirmations like "Bring it on, lets do this!" This helps me to get into a "yes mentality" and face the challenge without hesitation.

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What do you do to stay mentally strong in the water?

So two things that I focus on to help me to stay mentally strong. The first one is my faith and when I'm out there and the waves are really big and scary I think whatever we believe in we need to have a sense of purpose that we're supposed to be out there. Either we've set this as a goal for ourselves or we've been training towards this for months because if when the waves are really big and if we kind of find ourselves out there by chance I'd say instead of having a purpose we're gonna be tossed and turned the fear is gonna take over over us the adrenaline and when that big wave comes our way we're gonna be too scared to go on a wave. So finding a sense of purpose I think is really important and for me I believe I've been created at this point in my life I believe I've been created to surf these big waves and when I'm out there and it's big and scary and stormy I feel this deep sense of peace because I know that this is exactly where I'm supposed to be even though it's scary. So having a sense of purpose that I know that I'm supposed to be here that's a really important thing for me and the second thing is positive affirmation. So if I have thoughts that are worrying me that's robbing me of energy whereas if I have thoughts of excitement anticipation confidence that gives me energy so I try to focus on affirming statements things like I'm here for a reason this is my day here comes my wave let's do this I'm ready for this I can make this wave no matter what and I'm constantly talking to myself even if I'm surfing for like five six hours on end because there's long waits in between and then suddenly a big set will come so I'm constantly talking to myself telling my myself I'm here for a reason the purpose and I can do this and those positive affirmations play a huge role in giving me energy and excitement and helping me to stay focused and mentally strong in the water.

I stay mentally strong by relying on my faith and positive affirmations. I believe I've been created to serve the big waves, and when I'm out there, I find a deep sense of peace. I also use positive affirmations to give me energy and excitement and help me to stay focused.

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What is your biggest fear when it comes to surfing & did you overcome it?

My biggest fear in big wave surfing is getting caught inside a huge set of waves. So I kind of visualized this scenario over and over again. I go over a little wave and the one behind it is just a 40, 50 footer, 60 footer rearing up over me and it just breaks on my head and pulls me down into the depths. And getting 4 or 5 of these waves on my head back to back. So this is a fear I'm constantly dealing with all the time. It's one of the things I fear most in my whole life is getting one of these huge waves on the head. But I definitely haven't overcome it but when I train, I train for this scenario. So for instance in the pool I try to mimic that environment. I do sprints in the pool to get my heart racing and then I take a few breaths. The breaths I would kind of get before the wave crashes on my head and then I swim under the water for as long as I can. And while I'm under the water I visualize that scenario. I visualize the wave pulling at me violently. I take myself through all the uncomfortable feelings of the pressure on my lungs and my ears popping and I visualize being pulled into the darkness deep under the water. And I put myself in this super uncomfortable situation in my training over and over again so that when I get exposed to that in real life I don't panic. Because it's really all about remaining calm when you're down there under the water you feel so alone. It's about remaining calm. So I'm constantly having to face this fear over and over again. And it's just one of the things I have to deal with being a big wave surfer. I like to always train for the worst scenario and then when the big day is approaching then I only visualize the best. So I train for the worst, visualize the best.

My biggest fear in big wave surfing is getting caught inside a huge set of waves and being pulled down into the depths. To overcome this fear, I practice visualization techniques in training to get used to the feeling of being pulled under the water. This helps me remain calm when faced with this fear in real life.

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What is your strategy for overcoming fear while surfing?

Overcoming fear while surfing big waves. So for me one of the things that's very important is our perspective and how do we look at how do we think about the big storm that's approaching the big session the big waves. So for me there's kind of two mindsets we can have. Firstly we can think these waves are gonna be too big for me maybe I'm gonna wipe out I could drown I could snap my board maybe I'm just gonna be too scared that's one mindset. The other one is okay these waves are gonna be maybe some of the biggest waves I've ever surfed in my life but with that comes the opportunity to get the biggest wave of my life. So when I see a big storm approaching I'm full of I feel that fear and the butterflies churning up my stomach I try to focus on that that okay these waves maybe they're gonna be the biggest waves I've ever taken on but with that comes the opportunity to get the biggest wave of my life and the thought of kind of taking myself to the next level having the opportunity to have a breakthrough moment I focus on that thought and I visualize that moment and and focusing on that perspective and that mindset over and over again that helps me to be get excited so instead of feeling avoidant and super nervous I feel excited and I want to lean into that challenge and actually can't wait for this well to come my way.

When facing a big storm and the fear that comes with it, I try to focus on the opportunity for a breakthrough moment, instead of feeling avoidance and nerves. Visualizing the moment helps me to get excited and lean into the challenge.

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What type of mental preparation do you use to stay focused when surfing?

Okay, mental preparation. This is a big one, especially for big wave stuff. So much of it is what happens in the mind. So in order to remain focused, to keep kind of all the nerves out, to stay focused on that wave that I want to catch, I use visualization and I use positive affirmations. So visualization, I like to visualize my hero moment, which is me sitting out the back line, seeing the horizon go dark as a huge set of waves approaches, seeing the wave towering over me, spinning my nose towards the rocks and paddling like I've never paddled before, the wave picking me up, leaning forward over the edge with no hesitation, dropping in and riding the wave of my life. So I use that visualization, my hero moment. I use that over and over again to help keep the nerves down. So I don't not worry about all the other things going on around me. I can focus on the wave that I want and get excited instead of feel scared. And then the positive affirmations is the second one. So my mind gets filled with doubt and all sorts of things that distract me from being focused. So I have a few statements that I have in my mind, things like you're born for this, you've trained for this, you're ready for this. This is your moment. This is your wave. I've got all these statements that I have in my head that I tell myself over and over again that help me to have energy and excitement.

To stay focused for surfing big waves, I use visualization and positive affirmations. Visualization helps me keep the nerves down and stay focused on the wave that I want, while positive affirmations help fill my mind with energy and excitement instead of doubt.

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Mindset & Fear

Matt Bromley