I'm Begging You To Pick Up These Hobbies

I am begging you to pick up these five types of hobbies: a creative, intellectual, social, physical, and spiritual hobby. Because if you feel bored, lonely, uninteresting, or like your life doesn't have meaning outside of work, it's probably because you're missing hobbies that fulfill different parts of your life. Research shows that people with hobbies tend to be happier, healthier, and more satisfied with their lives. But with that being said, one hobby is not enough. Different hobbies provide completely different benefits, like physical benefits, psychological benefits, social benefits, and so on. Which basically means if you only have one hobby, you're inevitably leaving some important part of your life unfulfilled. To feel fully complete, you need a hobby in each of your major life areas. And today, I want to suggest the hobbies I've picked up in each area and why I recommend them to improve your life. So, the first area you need a hobby in is creative. So many people think that creative activities are off limits for them because they don't view themselves as creative or being good at creative stuff. They think activities like painting or writing or playing music are just reserved for people who are naturally creative. But this mindset is so fundamentally flawed because creativity is an innate part of being a human being. Just look at this cave art from 30,000 years ago. That's how long humans have been creating using literally a cave and charcoal. And as you can see, this cave art isn't the Mona Lisa, but whoever painted it used their imagination and self-expression to just create something new. And that's all being creative really comes down to. Being curious and using your imagination to produce something. It doesn't even have to be good. Like, if a person 30,000 years ago can be creative, you can be creative, too. And creative hobbies have a ton of benefits. They produce feel-good hormones like dopamine and endorphins that counteract cortisol, the distress hormone. And they also literally rewire your brain and create new neural pathways that keep your mind sharp and improve your focus. But creative hobbies don't just come down to painting and music. There's stuff like writing, gardening, photography, woodworking, crocheting, and a bazillion others. Right now, my favorite creative hobby is writing. I like to write stories, articles on the stuff I learn, reviews on the stuff I read and watch, and from time to time, very badly written poetry. I love writing because it's free, first and foremost, and because it allows me to express my thoughts, ideas, and feelings, and be creative in how I express myself. But most importantly, it's been a creative outlet for me that has helped me get to know myself better as I work through and untangle my own thoughts through the act of writing. Research has also shown that writing can help you gain mental clarity, increase your self-esteem, improve your attention span, and help you express your feelings. Writing is a hobby I think literally everyone could benefit from. Even if all you do is journal for 5 minutes before bed, you can write little journal entries. That's like an autobiography telling your life story from day to day. You can also write about your feelings, or you can write short stories about other people. There's literally no limit to what you can write about. And the best part is that no one ever has to see it. So you can free yourself from perfectionism and this feeling like you can't be creative if you aren't good at the thing you're doing. You can just allow yourself to write badly. But obviously, writing is only one option, but it is an option you can start immediately. Another option you can start immediately is an intellectual hobby. So many people graduate from school and stop learning. And not only is this horrible for your brain, sorry, just stating the truth, it also kills me a little bit on the inside because learning stuff you're genuinely interested in is like one of the greatest joys of being alive. Not to exaggerate or anything. So, a while ago, I read this book called Aging with Grace, which covered what's referred to as the nun study that follows almost 700 Catholic sisters to learn how lifestyle, early life habits, and brain changes affect aging and Alzheimer's disease. One of the major findings from the nun study was the link between education and the risk of cognitive impairment in late life. What they found was that sisters who had high levels of early education like a bachelor's degree or higher and sustained lifelong mental activity were less likely to develop Alzheimer's later in life than those who didn't. So the thought behind why this is the case is that higher education and lifelong mental activity basically builds a strong reserve which helps the brain work well even when physical disease is present. All to say, I don't know about you, but this is a great motivator for me to have an intellectual hobby because Alzheimer's disease scares the hell out of me. But beyond the scary, intellectual hobbies can also simply be very pleasurable and fun as well. Learning doesn't have to be all textbook reading and watching lectures. Although it can be, I do that and I absolutely love it. But learning can also be watching documentaries, listening to podcasts, reading books, and so on. Right now, my favorite intellectual hobby is learning another language. And listen, I am not talking about studying grammar or drilling flashcards. I can't say that makes for a particularly fun hobby unless you're a masochist. So, I use the comprehensible input method to learn languages, which I've talked about in other videos, but in a nutshell, this method basically just comes down to watching videos in my target language for an hour or two every day. It costs absolutely nothing since you can just use YouTube to find videos, and it's so low effort in that all you need is time and attention to actually sit down and watch the videos. Learning another language has an insane amount of cognitive benefits like better concentration, more powerful memory, better communication skills, and so on. But beyond those benefits, learning another language has really taught me so much about parts of the world I was completely ignorant of before, which has been a lot of fun. I'm currently learning French, and through the videos I've been watching, I've learned so much about French history and French culture. Genuinely, I think learning another language is such a beautiful way to interact with the world and the people who live in it that we don't really think about, which is why I highly recommend it as an intellectual hobby. You get to work out your brain and expand your worldview at the same time. And obviously also learn another language, which is pretty freaking cool. And of course, becoming fluent in another language obviously allows you to interact with other people in that language, which is another huge benefit because at our core, human beings are incredibly social creatures, which is why we also need a social hobby. These days, people are lonelier and more isolated than ever, which is not ideal because loneliness can trigger chronic stress, raise the risk of heart disease, stroke, type two diabetes, depression, anxiety, dementia, and premature death. You know, nothing serious. Actually, fun fact, organizations like the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that chronic isolation carries health risks comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. So, it's safe to say that it's important that we get the hell out of the house and socialize with other human beings. And I get it. I'm an introvert. I was really, really shy growing up. So, I know the struggle of starting a social hobby, but it is so worth it to get out of your comfort zone and do social things. Like, getting out of my comfort zone and going to meetups has helped me meet so many cool people, work on my social skills, and build up a social circle that has had

missing hobbies that fulfill different parts of your life. Research shows that people with hobbies tend to be happier, healthier, and more satisfied with their lives. But with that being said, one hobby is not enough. Different hobbies provide completely different benefits

like physical benefits, psychological benefits, social benefits, and so on. Which basically means if you only have one hobby, you're inevitably leaving some important part of your life unfulfilled. To feel fully complete, you need a hobby in each of your major life

areas. And today, I want to suggest the hobbies I've picked up in each area and why I recommend them to improve your life. So, the first area you need a hobby in is creative. So many people think that creative activities are off

limits for them because they don't view themselves as creative or being good at creative stuff. They think activities like painting or writing or playing music is just reserved for people who are naturally creative. But this mindset is so fundamentally flawed because

creativity is an innate part of being a human being. Just look at this cave art from 30,000 years ago. That's how long humans have been creating using literally a cave and charcoal. And as you can see, this cave art isn't the

Mona Lisa, but whoever painted it used their imagination and self-expression to just create something new. And that's all being creative really comes down to.

Being curious and using your imagination to produce something. It doesn't even have to be good. Like, if a person 30,000 years ago can be creative, you can be creative, too. And creative hobbies have a ton of benefits. They

produce feel-good hormones like dopamine and endorphins that counteract cortisol, distress hormone. And they also literally rewire your brain and create new neural pathways that keeps your mind sharp and improves your focus. But creative hobbies don't just come down to

painting and music. There's stuff like writing gardening photography woodworking, crocheting, and a bazillion others. Right now, my favorite creative hobby is writing. I like to write stories, articles on the stuff I learn, reviews on the stuff I read and watch,

and from time to time, very badly written poetry. I love writing because it's free, first and foremost, and because it allows me to express my thoughts, ideas, and feelings, and be creative in how I express myself. But most importantly, it's been a creative

outlet for me that has helped me get to know myself better as I work through and untangle my own thoughts through the act of writing. Research has also shown that writing can help you gain mental clarity, increase your self-esteem,

improve your attention span, and help you express your feelings. Writing is a hobby I think literally everyone could benefit from. Even if all you do is journal for 5 minutes before bed, you can write little journal entries. That's

like an autobiography telling your life story from day to day. You can also write about your feelings, or you can write short stories about other people.

There's literally no limit to what you can write about. And the best part is that no one ever has to see it. So you can free yourself from perfectionism and this feeling like you can't be creative if you aren't good at the thing you're

doing. You can just allow yourself to write badly. But obviously writing is only one option, but it is an option you can start immediately. Another option you can start immediately is an intellectual hobby. So many people graduate from school and stop learning.

And not only is this horrible for your brain, sorry, just stating the truth, it also kills me a little bit on the inside because learning stuff you're genuinely interested in is like one of the greatest joys of being alive. Not to

exaggerate or anything. So, a while ago, I read this book called Aging with Grace, which covered what's referred to as the nun study that follows almost 700 Catholic sisters to learn how lifestyle, early life habits, and brain changes

affect aging and Alzheimer's disease. One of the major findings from the nun study was the link between education and the risk of cognitive impairment in late life. What they found was that sisters who had high levels of early education

like a bachelor's degree or higher and sustained lifelong mental activity were less likely to develop Alzheimer's later in life than those who didn't. So the thought behind why this is the case is that higher education and lifelong mental activity basically builds a

strong reserve which helps the brain work well even when physical disease is present. All to say I don't know about you but this is a great motivator for me to have an intellectual hobby because Alzheimer's disease scares the hell out

of me. But beyond the scary intellectual hobbies can also simply be very pleasurable and fun as well.

Learning doesn't have to be all textbook reading and watching lectures. Although it can be I do that and I absolutely love it. But learning can also be watching documentaries, listen to podcasts, reading books and so on. Right now my favorite intellectual hobby is

learning another language. And listen, I am not talking about studying grammar or drilling flashcards. I can't say that makes for particularly fun hobby unless you're a masochist. So, I use the comprehensible input method to learn languages, which I've talked about in

other videos, but in a nutshell, this method basically just comes down to watching videos in my target language for an hour or two every day. It costs absolutely nothing since you can just use YouTube to find videos, and it's so

low effort in that all you need is time and attention to actually sit down and watch the videos. Learning another language has an insane amount of cognitive benefits like better concentration, more powerful memory, better communication skills, and so on.

But beyond those benefits, learning another language has really taught me so much about parts of the world I was completely ignorant of before, which has been a lot of fun. I'm currently learning French, and through the videos I've been watching, I've learned so much

about French history and French culture. Genuinely, I think learning another language is such a beautiful way to interact with the world and the people who live in it that we don't really think about, which is why I highly

recommend it as an intellectual hobby. You get to work out your brain and expand your world view at the same time.

And obviously also learn another language, which is pretty freaking cool. And of course, becoming fluent in another language obviously allows you to interact with other people in that language, which is another huge benefit because at our core, human beings are

incredibly social creatures, which is why we also need a social hobby. These days, people are lonelier and more isolated than ever, which is not ideal because loneliness can trigger chronic stress, raise the risk of heart disease, stroke, type two diabetes, depression,

anxiety, dementia, and premature death. You know, nothing serious. Actually, fun fact, organizations like the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that chronic isolation carries health risks comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. So, it's safe to say

that it's important that we get the hell out of the house and socialize with other human beings. And I get it. I'm an introvert. I was really, really shy growing up. So, I know the struggle of starting a social hobby, but it is so

worth it to get out of your comfort zone and do social things. Like, getting out of my comfort zone and going to meetups has helped me meet so many cool people, work on my social skills, and build up a

social circle that has had a hugely positive impact on my life. So, in my case, for social hobbies, I just like to take the hobbies I already have and think of ways I can make it social. So, for example, I love playing disc golf as

a physical hobby. So to make it social, I'll just go to disc golf meetups to get to know other people who are into the sport. I also like to read, so I can just go attend book clubs, which helps

me connect with other book lovers. You can actually just use the app meetup.com to find meetups in your area and go to those as a social hobby. But that's not actually my recommendation because if you live in a small town like I

currently do, you may not have any options on that app to begin with. This is why the social hobby I recommend is volunteering. It's free. You get to meet new people, do something good, and maybe learn new skills. There's literally no

downside to volunteering except the fact that you have to get off your ass and go do it. So, I have volunteered mainly at animal shelters and food banks, and it's always been a highly positive experience. Research actually shows that

volunteering leads to lower rates of depression and anxiety, reduces stress, and increases positive feelings by releasing dopamine. Honestly, there is a huge variety of volunteer opportunities in every community. whether you're interested in youth, environmental, health, religious, or community causes.

So, to start volunteering, check with local, nonprofit, and cultural organizations schools faith communities, or hospitals for options.

Call them, email them, or look on their website for volunteer application forms. Do not neglect a social hobby.

Surrounding yourself with other human beings is absolutely integral to your overall well-being. Another area you want a hobby in is physical. And I know what you're probably thinking. I already know I should exercise for my health, but that's not actually what I mean. I'm

not telling you that you need to force yourself into the gym 5 days a week or start training for a 5K. I want you to find a way of moving your body that you actually enjoy to keep doing for the

rest of your life. Honestly, one of my major pet peeves is people talking about a specific physical exercise people should do like it's the holy grail.

There is no best exercise. There is a worst exercise though, one you suffer through just because you think you should do it. Physical hobbies don't have to be about achieving some specific result like losing weight or getting stronger. They can simply be about

moving because you actually like moving. So maybe that's hiking, swimming, dancing, climbing, martial arts, skating cycling yoga calisthenics or even just going for long walks.

Obviously, there are plenty of health benefits that come along with it, like exercise improves cardiovascular strength, strengthens your muscles and bones, and even benefits your brain by increasing blood flow, and supporting neuroplasticity. But beyond all that, one of my favorite things about having a

physical hobby is that your body becomes something you get to experience life through. There's something just so very satisfying about getting to feel yourself becoming faster, stronger, more flexible, or even just better at the activity you're doing. And one of my

favorite physical hobbies for that is actually walking. I honestly don't do it as much as I should. I usually end up just at the gym instead. But every time I go for a walk, I'm reminded how ridiculously simple and pleasant it is.

You don't need equipment. You don't need a membership. You don't even need to be good at it. You just have to go outside and move your legs. So, all in all, don't think of exercise as something you have to force yourself to do. Find a

form of movement you genuinely enjoy and turn it into a hobby. When you actually enjoy moving your body, staying active can become something you look forward to instead of something you dread. Now, there's one last part of your life you

need to take care of, too. Your inner life, and that's where spiritual hobbies come in. Now, when you hear the word spiritual, you might immediately think of religion or meditation or something like that. But I'm using the word much

more broadly. A spiritual hobby is simply something that helps you slow down, connect with yourself, and feel connected to something bigger than your everyday life. So that could be meditation yoga journaling spending time in nature, reading philosophy, praying, or even just creating

something. The activity itself matters less than how it makes you feel. Because we spend so much of our lives doing, consuming working scrolling and worrying about what we need to do next, it can be really easy to lose touch with

ourselves. So, a spiritual hobby just gives you a reason to slow down and just be. And that can have some pretty powerful effects. Activities like meditation and yoga can reduce stress and help quiet your mind. Well, spending time in nature can give you a sense of

peace and perspective. And some activities can even put you into a state called flow, where you're so absorbed in what you're doing that you temporarily lose track of time and stop thinking about everything else going on in your

life. This state is said to be the most enjoyable state a human can enter. So, so my favorite spiritual hobby is actually a combination of two things.

Yoga and nature. There's something about being outside in the quiet surrounded by trees while moving my body and focusing on my breath that just makes me feel incredibly present. It gets me out of my own head for a little while and makes me

feel connected both to my body and the world around me. I think that's what a spiritual hobby should ultimately do.

give you a little space to step away from the noise of everyday life and reconnect with yourself and the world around you. Now, in saying all of this and recommending these specific hobbies, this is just what I enjoy doing. Hobbies

are deeply personal. What I find enjoyable, you may hate, and vice versa. Like, I'd rather go jump into a cold lake than go for a run, but you may find going for a run highly enjoyable. So, the hobbies I recommend are just

starting points. You have to actually go out there and experiment to figure out what you find most enjoyable and that you'd like to continue doing. But of course, keep in mind, you can always start a hobby and then put it down or

cycle between hobbies. You can always have a hobby that overlaps between the multiple areas I've mentioned. In my case, walking is both a spiritual, physical, and intellectual hobby. As I like to think and reflect on my walks and use it as an opportunity to connect

with myself and the world. Now, I get that managing five hobbies sounds kind of overwhelming. I mean, as adults, we already have so much to manage and so little time. So, if you want to learn how to successfully manage all your

hobbies, you can watch this video next. Thanks for watching this video, and I will see you in the next one. Bye-bye.