There are so many reasons why hobbies are essential for your happiness and well-being. Hobbies define some of your deepest desires in life, and they are a reflection of who you are.
What exactly is a hobby? According to Wikipedia, this is the definition of hobby:
A hobby is considered to be a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one’s leisure time.
Hobbies are mental escapes that can help us improve our skills, inspire us, and have been proven to reduce stress and anxiety symptoms.
In this guide, I will go over examples of hobbies, why you need them, and why they are a necessary part of your journey to self improvement.
Let’s get to it.
Here are 5 reasons hobbies are essential for your happiness:
1. Hobbies eliminate negativity
The responsibilities of work, school, family, and community are enormous. This means that doing the things we love most—aka creative hobbies—often turn out to be the things we do the least.
What’s even worse than not having a good hobby? Not having any motivation at work.
Being unhappy at work AND having no inspiration to be productive in your personal time is one of the biggest causes for lacking purpose. This is why having a hobby is a must.
Here are some of the most common hobbies examples:
- Artsy—like writing, drawing, cooking, and painting.
- Physical—like biking, sports, and mountain climbing.
- Creative—like solving math equations, puzzles, photography, and board games.
- Playing instruments and listening to music.
Hobbies such as those which require physical exercise, can cause chemical changes in our body to help reduce stress. But even if your hobby is one that’s more mentally demanding, like reading, you will still benefit greatly from it.
In fact, there are numerous benefits of reading. As to why people read, and how often, greatly depends on what age group and income threshold you are in.
Younger generations and those with higher incomes tend to read more than older people and lower incomes.
Reading is just one escape, and it’s effective. It’s certainly a cheap hobby, but there are many more that can ease the negativities from your life. What is your hobby?
What’s the takeaway?
Having hobbies is an excellent way to rid of the negativities in your life. It’s time to take action, find something that really interests you (consider reflecting on your childhood dreams) and indulge in some creativity.
2. Hobbies invoke creativity and drive respect
Developing creative skills through a hobby can be directly translated into innovation. It’s this creativity that gives us the spark which keeps the world going round.
In fact, some of the best hobbies for work are those that inspire us to perform better, and they prevent us from hating and quitting our jobs. For instance, being a voracious reader of leadership books when you’re a manager.
Incorporating hobbies into your life can turn you into a leader.
According to INC., if you want to be a leader, then you must have some sort of hobby. Hobbies express a part of you which brings out your identity, and they strengthen you in ways that shape your ability to influence others around you.
Your hobby can help you learn how to be more creative in other aspects of your life as well. One of my favorites is writing, and learning how to do it correctly, over the years, has helped me express myself in ways I never imagined.
For me, it’s a way to ease my fears and incorporate my thoughts, dreams, and desires into a tangible form that others can see—almost like a portal.
What’s the takeaway?
Finding hobbies that bring out the creator in you are the coolest hobbies that exist. They allow you to discover the parts of who you are, which are responsible for shaping you into an effective leader.
3. Hobbies build relationships and social interactions
Having a weird hobby is better than no hobby. Like underwater basket weaving. Sure, it’s not something to gloat about, and could even cause people to misunderstand you, but if it makes you happy, then keep doing it.
Nothing you do is pointless if you are growing from it and it makes you happy.
Your hobbies will always add to your personality—they never take away from you.
And the better in-tune you are with your hobby, the more people will like you. The reason for this is that when you indulge in your interests, it shows people you are interesting and worth getting to know.
There are so many types of hobbies to get into, and they’re a great way to introduce you to new communities. Your work environment is a perfect place to meet people who have alike interests.
Group hobbies can reduce social fears, and expose you to new relationships. This is true for both adult hobbies, and hobbies for teens.
Numerous studies show that hobbies give us an opportunity to bond in social manners, which have a huge positive impact on our happiness.
This is especially true for building strong marriages. Because sometimes what your hobbies are missing is a little social support, which is often the spark many marriages need to last.
Perhaps you and your partner should pick up instruments and start a band? Who knows!?
What’s the takeaway?
There are many hobby types out there that promote opportunities to meet new friends. If you haven’t found one yet that has stuck with you, it might be useful to list hobbies and interests on a sheet of paper, and try them all until you find ‘the one’.
It’s important that you get out there, have fun, laugh like there’s no tomorrow, and experience the richness that life has to offer. What have you got to lose?
4. Hobbies add charms to your personality
Finding new hobbies gives you an opportunity to add extra layers and facets to your character. They are a way to enrich your knowledge and self-confidence.
What’s the good news? There are TONS of hobbies for free, and they are plentiful.
This isn’t true for ALL of them, like, collector hobbies; for instance, coin collecting. But most cost very little to partake in. Ever do bird watching? All you need is some energy, a set of eyeballs, and maybe a camera or smartphone.
Most travel hobbies are like this—cheap, basic, and require minimal equipment to experience and enjoy.
Your first and final step to pursuing your hobby is persistence. Mastering a hobby gives you a type of natural authority. You become an expert on the subject—regardless of what field it is, and you will gain passive respect from those around you.
Others will seek YOU to inspire them.
When you actively put effort into not only getting good at what you do, but that you display deep passion for it, it will add natural suave to your personality. You become known for what you do, and it turns you into a role model.
What’s the takeaway?
There are countless hobbies to do that will enhance your personality and make people adore you for it. If you’re stuck on ideas, consider using a random hobbies generator.
Try to list hobbies and interests you feel match your personality, and give em’ a go.
5. Hobbies promote emotional satisfaction
I’m sure we can all agree there are nights when we sit at home and wonder what the heck we are doing with our lives. We get into our heads, can’t focus on anything positive, and need to hide from our thoughts.
Constantly being at war with your emotions is a good indicator you should pick up new hobbies.
Being alone isn’t always a choice, but feeling alone is.
It can be hard to not feel alone when, literally, you are alone. But, if you could try to attach yourself—your thoughts and energy, into something other than misery and dissatisfaction, it may bring you contentment.
Studies find that people who spend less time pursuing money and extrinsic values, and more time enjoying leisure and hobbies, have greater levels of happiness.
“The best hobbies are the ones that take us from our primary occupation.” — Dr. Evelyn Vogel – (Dexter)
Next time you’re feeling down, try really hard to find it inside you to pick up whatever it is you enjoy, and let it take you away into your happy place.
There’s a reason you love it—reasons which may stem from your childhood interests. And these reasons might be exactly what you need to push you forward in life.
What’s the takeaway?
For some of us, we lie down at night in our beds and think about all the things wrong with our lives. I want you to reflect a little on your hobbies, and answer honestly if you have any that truly bring you happiness. If you don’t, try to find one.
It doesn’t matter if they are hobbies for home—like reading, or outdoor hobbies—like saving wildlife. You’ve got to do something.
And speaking of lying in bed, make sure you are getting adequate sleep. It’s a mandatory part of having good mental health, and you can’t make rational decisions without it.
Conclusion
Part of being productive and finding your purpose in life means pursuing creative hobbies. Doing so will uplift you, and it will greatly increase your quality of life.
Try to make reflecting on your hobbies (both new and old) during your new years resolutions a thing, every year.
If you don’t have any hobbies, make it your number one goal by the end of this week to find one. Even if the hobby is temporary, it’s important that you try new things. Only then, will you know what is right for you, and what will bring you true happiness.
That’s it, my friends. Good luck.
Here’s a quick recap of 5 Reasons Hobbies Are Essential For Happiness:
- Eliminates negativity.
- Makes you creative and drives respect.
- Socialize and build relationships.
- Adds charms to your personality.
- Mental and emotional satisfaction.
That’s all folks! Thanks for reading.
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