Hobby 2.0

Why do you need a hobby? From ancient Stoics to Karl Marx, there is consistent advice we come across. Take up a hobby, an interest, something fun, something to take your mind off of things. Seneca enjoyed gardening, Einstein played violin, Churchill painted, Obama plays basketball, Buffett loves the ukulele. Tom Hanks… collects vintage typewriters.

Ever since we were children, our hobbies have been among the key things that define us. Perhaps more so than we think. You may have noticed that when describing a classmate, kids rarely refer to how he or she actually does at school. Instead, that is the piano player kid, this is the actor, she is the painter, he sprints, she rides horses. From an early age, hobbies instill in us a certain way of thinking and acting, and the lessons learned we carry with us throughout life.

One thing never sat well with me though. I kept hearing — a hobby is for fun, you should just do it for enjoyment, for relaxation. As much as I understand the point behind this, especially in today’s intense and fast-paced world, I have come to develop a bit of a different view of what a hobby should be for it to impact your life in the best possible way.

Enter Hobby 2.0. I believe that if you are passionate about something, enough to call it a hobby, then you should make an effort to get progressively better at it. Research it, train, hire a coach, attend a course, practice, improve. That will detract from the fun, for sure. But you will be delaying gratification and if you persevere and invest effort, a lot more fun awaits you at a later point. Be patient, trust the process and do the work.

Treat it as a project. Set goals. Design a training plan. Consult experts. Make incremental steps forward. Track your progress. Adjust and re-engage.

Being proficient in something is fun. It is rewarding. It builds confidence. It promotes physical and mental health. It creates a habit of functioning along the continuum of — setting a goal, doing the work, achieving success — something that is transferrable to other areas of life.

Success in a hobby helps balance the inevitable failures elsewhere, particularly at work. It improves self-esteem, helps tackle depression. A disaster in your latest project is not the end of the world. It also is not definitive evidence that you are a failure because there is an activity where you excel.

A hobby is a new challenge, a new experience. As you improve at it, it is not only an opportunity to learn something but also to gain a new perspective. A new angle, a new point of view for issues you face at work, in your family, in your community.

Doing this needs time and effort, which will inevitably help avoid wasting time. Sure, there will be setbacks, but overall, you will have a distinct sense of moving forward. The sense of growth.

A hobby helps build and strengthen relationships, expand your social circle. You will get to know people with whom you share interests. You will also be more comfortable socially, hobbies make you interesting, give you something to talk about, to share, to discuss, to advise on.

Finally, as you become more successful in the hobby of your choosing, it may even grow to be a new career. Passion can also pay the bills.

So, having a hobby has clear benefits. But having a hobby 2.0 has many more. You won’t just be known as a person who dabbles in tennis, woodwork, gardening, martial arts, but someone who can actually be a valuable resource.

I will say though, we should not forget that relaxing and enjoying yourself is also important. Every once in a while, you should just practice your hobby for fun, without a specific goal in mind. Don’t play to win. Don’t aim at a flawless performance. Let the process take over and melt into it. This will actually help improve further in the longer run. Just remember to do it periodically, not all the time.

So pick up a Hobby 2.0. Or upgrade the existing one. It is guaranteed to bring about a combination of meaning and fun that we can all benefit from in our lives.