For some, spare time is for drinking, snacks, and TV. For others, it’s a chance to learn, grow, and explore their creativity. Which group do you belong to?
If you fit into the first, it’s time to make a change — and fast. Giving in to creature comforts rather than seeking to improve yourself leaves you bored, tired, and emotionally drained when you could be excited and full of energy for the day ahead. All you need to make the change is to find a new passion and pursue it, whether alone or with friends. In fact, there are many hobbies you can learn online without leaving your home.
Writing
This seems like something you would leave to the professionals, but stretching your literary muscles does a lot more good than just helping you land a book deal and get on the best-sellers list. Though that’s both possible with some practice and dedication, more immediately, you’ll find an excellent avenue for expressing your emotions and sharing your experiences with others. Moreover, it can do wonders for your career, as your communication skills expand and colleagues and bosses take notice of your skill with the written word.
Music
While numerous studies have shown the cognitive benefits that learning an instrument has to offer, little has been written about the social benefits. Music brings people together — whether in a band, a group lesson, or an impromptu jam session at a party — in a unique emotional bonding experience that can be quite powerful for everyone involved. There are lessons available online for much more than just the guitar, and other instruments such as cellos, flutes, and tubas offer unique opportunities for creative expression.
Cooking
Learn this skill and you’ll eat healthier, lose weight, and boost your energy levels all in one fell swoop. That’s because it allows you to create delicious meals while choosing your own ingredients rather than relying on a chef who’s inclined to add too much fat, salt, and sugar to your food in an effort to keep you coming back for more. It’ll make your life better in other ways as well, explains the Healthy Voyager, by raising your social standing among friends and relatives while saving you money for other pursuits.
Painting
“Every artist was first an amateur,” said the writer and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, so don’t be turned off if your first tentative brush strokes don’t render a masterpiece. Besides, you have a lot more to get out of painting than just pictures. According to Health Fitness Revolution, it has many therapeutic effects, such as stress relief and a boost in self-confidence, while promoting a greater understanding and appreciation of art in general as well as foreign cultures.
Tai Chi
Almost 250 million people of all ages practice this ancient Chinese art form worldwide. This widespread popularity shouldn’t be surprising, as tai chi offers a number of health benefits, including greater strength and flexibility. However, the overall goal is to promote internal balance through an emphasis on meditation. It’s traditionally practiced in groups and often in public, though a growing number of adherents seek the stress relief it delivers by executing the fundamental movements at home.
Knitting
This is not just for grandmothers anymore, or even just women. The number of men learning this craft has been growing for decades as they discover how well it eases your mind and helps you get rid of stress after a hard day of work. That’s partly because of its similarities to meditation. When knitting, you focus on the repetitive action of your hands as your breathing slows and your worries slip away. And at the end of the process, you have a groovy scarf or beanie to wear when the weather gets cold.
There’s no need to choose something now and stick with it forever. You’re free to explore any number of hobbies until you find one or more that suit your interests and personality, and you’ll have fun in the process.
Julie Morris
Julie Morris is a life and career coach. She thrives on helping others live their best lives. It’s easy for her to relate to clients who feel run over by life because she’s been there. After years in a successful (but unfulfilling) career in finance, Julie busted out of the corner office that had become her prison.
Today, she is fulfilled by helping busy professionals like her past self get the clarity they need in order to live inspired lives that fill more than just their bank accounts. When Julie isn’t working with clients, she enjoys writing and is currently working on her first book. She also loves spending time outdoors and getting lost in a good book.