Why it’s a good idea to have multiple hobbies — not just the one

Let me tell you about my obsession with the gym.

In 2017/18, I started lifting weights seriously. I had tried stints of gym routines in the past, but never stuck to them for longer than months at a time.

When I finally began training with fervour, I paid more attention to the factors that inhibited or bolstered my progress: what exercises I performed, whether the form was good/bad, the sets/rep/weight used, what food I ate, how much I slept, how much alcohol I consumed, and so on.

Through consistency, effort, and controlling these factors, I managed to make some decent progress. Certainly, more progress than I had ever made before, with that effect becoming increasingly pronounced over time.

However, there were periods in which I felt dissatisfied with time dedicated to the gym. I still do, and I know them all too well by now.

Such periods of low gym self-esteem look like this:

• Feeling like progress crawls at a snail’s pace; taking weeks and months to keep adding weight to the bar for big exercises. You can correct it by tweaking routine and diet, but it can take time to do that, and you’ve still got to wait for the changes to catch up.
• I feel that nothing much changes aesthetically. This ties in with the last bullet. All of that effort feels for nothing.
• Furthermore, I feel disappointed in my appearance and performance. This makes me doubt my self-worth altogether: why am I so bad at what I dedicate my time to? What have I got to “fall back” on?

The highs with the gym are high, but the lows are exceptionally low. For me, setting PRs and packing on muscles feel as good as making little to no progress feels bad.

Why not dig deeper; try harder?

If what you’re doing isn’t working, then you need to re-evaluate your approach. Right?

It is certainly true that I can take the right steps to ensure that I am making progress in the gym. Getting my diet in check, fixing up my programming, pushing harder, recovering adequately, all that jazz. You’d think that actually progressing would alleviate the ills experienced with the gym, right?

I can also try not tying my self-worth to my appearance and what I do in the gym. That works, too, by practicing self-acceptance and seeing my inherent value (there’s an article coming for this very soon). Dumping all of my contentment into a future physique doesn’t help me right now, so I should find contentment in the here and now to maximise happiness, right?

Both of these things are true. However, something else helped me with despondent gym periods; stagnation in a hobby of mine. It was through realising that I was putting all of my chips on the gym, instead of distributing them elsewhere. So, the answer wasn’t to double down on training (and inadvertently deepen the crisis).

It was to branch out to other activities.

Solidifying a foundation

For the sake of argument, I will admit that the gym is fantastic in isolation.

I think that if you’re able to set aside a decent amount of time and effort into dieting and training, then you should. Even running on a treadmill and doing light weights for health reasons is significantly better than doing nothing. And I’m sure you have a hobby wherein this same passion and desire to share it with others springs forth.

However, I do not — and will not — ever claim that a singular hobby is a panacea. When I tell people to try something out, I am assuming it is one of many things to try. It’s a piece of a puzzle, not the entire jigsaw.

I know I talked about fluctuations in hobby self-esteem. Personally, that factor alone is enough to convince me to be open to the idea of having more hobbies, because of how good it is to fall back on something.

If that isn’t sufficient for you, why not consider these things as well:

• What are you going to do in the time when you’re not doing your hobby? Sleep, eat, drink, work — that’s it? If that’s the path you choose to take, fair enough, but that doesn’t sound sustainable for someone like me.
• Leading on from that: what if you eventually get tired of your hobby? What are you going to do instead? Push harder?
• What if you get injured? What are you going to do in the time it takes for you to recover?
• What if you can’t access your hobby anymore (even if temporarily)? What if your hobby groups discontinues? What if your electric guitar suddenly breaks? What if — just what if — a global event prevents you from doing your hobby? I couldn’t train seriously for well over a year thanks to the pandemic — how do you think that made me feel?

Again, you could practice self-acceptance and see your inner value. You could also spend more time with family and friends, and put yourself out there in social events to meet new people. They’re all great suggestions, too.

For me, an important piece of the puzzle — as the title of this article implies — is to try new things. Get more hobbies.

Examples?

Leading on from that last point:

In my article about surviving life after university, I talked about trying new things and cultivating hobbies. My suggestion was to accrue three types of hobby: one that you can do by yourself, one that is done socially, and another that keeps you fit. Bonus points if there’s overlap, they allow you to create things, and if one of them can generate a steady income.

The two other main hobbies I personally focused on were writing — something I did alone — and hiking — something I did alone and with others. Let me talk about how they helped supplement my lulls in the gym.

Firstly, writing: this allowed me to get in touch with my creative side. If there was something I wanted to explore and discuss, then I would write about it. I could even write about the gym if I wanted! As I wrote more, I became better at structuring and organising articles, and built a body of work to look back on and feel proud of. Sure, I experienced writer’s block and frequently felt like I wasn’t good enough, didn’t have enough traction with readers, etc., but it would another supplement to prop me up.

(Now of course, what you pick doesn’t have to be writing. However, I recommend a kind of creative outlet like writing. This can be drawing, painting, sewing, building models, coding, designing websites, and so on. I even tried origami for a little while — that was fun.)

Secondly, there was hiking. Hiking kept me fit like the gym did, but it additionally let me explore the outdoors — with others, no less. There was also a sense of achievement that came with walking 20+ miles, scaling a mountain, or simply getting out of the house for 7–8 hours for something that was not work. I also have wonderful photos of my trips to look back on!

Again, your choice doesn’t have to be one I listed. However, you might use hiking as inspiration: maybe you want something outdoors, something that keeps you fit, or something that can be done with others. Why not running? A sport? Fundraising of some sort? These are a few things to get the imagination going — it’s up to you what you ultimately pick.

Now that I have given you a few examples, let’s explore another big reason as to why having multiple hobbies can be an enormous benefit…

Broaden your horizons!

Have a few more hobbies? That’s it?

It’s true that the upshot of this article is to encourage others to not invest all of their energy into one thing, and to balance it across other things. However, what also cannot be understated about that is the very act of trying new things. Broadening your horizons, if you will.

You gain a lot from exploring a multitude of leisure activities. You acquire new skills, learn new things, and meet new people. I feel like trying (and learning) new things and changing up routines is how we stay mentally healthy as human beings.

If anything is anathema to wellbeing, it is stagnation. Living the same routine day in, day out, feeling complacent in what you’re doing. There is nothing wrong with being comfortable, but if left severely unchecked, that complacency can lead to ruin and unhappiness. Feeling “stuck” in what you’re doing amplifies that feeling, particularly if it’s the only thing you’re doing.

I’m reaching that point of stagnation now. I really want to do something about it. I still love to work out and write, and look for ways to make these things feel fresh, but there’s a part of me that wants to try something else. I’m toying with the idea of yoga, coding, more meet-ups, bouldering again — among other activities—to quench this thirst. I think this is a wise idea.

Why not join in? Commit yourself to trying one new thing in the next few weeks, if you can. Even if you don’t like it, you still tried, right?

Final thoughts

At the end of the day, you choose what you want out of life.

If you really want to go pedal to the metal with one of your hobbies, then that’s your prerogative. I am not in a position to stop you. If your routine working well for you right now, then go for it. However, I still you encourage you to dedicate yourself to growth, learning new things, and having new experiences — if you can.

None of this is growth for the sake of growth. This to stimulate your mind, give you something to fall back on in tough times, and open your eyes to opportunities that you might come to love. It is best to be prepared in life, is it not?