Recently, after spending some time being single (3 months) and counting, I have been actively participating in all kinds of sporting activities. What I have come to learn during this period of loneliness, is that being single is actually not that bad.
But here’s the deal. You need to have a hobby to pass some time. Well, you can always work during your free time, though I don’t recommend it. After all, you can’t work all day now can you? So, my recommendation is for you to get at least 2 hobbies.
This is because hobbies can be categories into 2. One which requires having at least a partner and one which you can do by yourself. Being reclusive is bad. And so is being dependent on others. Here’s some to consider plus their benefits.
1. Hobbies that improve your mind – Chess and any mind game really.
2. Hobbies that profit – Writing, blogging, reading and learning new skills (language, etc). Since you are going to waste your time, might as well you make full use of it.
3. Hobbies that make you healthy – Jogging and swimming immediately came to mind. To be fair, any outdoor sporting activities are healthy, though the benefits may vary.
4. Hobbies that make you look cool – Golf and tennis are certainly up there. I tried tennis before but just can’t seem to grasp the game. Well, golf as well on the driving range. Though being a lefty holding club meant for right hander at a mere age of 12, I’m not even sure if that counts.
5. Hobbies that calm you down – Gardening, yoga and Taichi may be boring for some, but for those who are constantly stressed out, this is your best bet.
6. Hobbies that help you get that contract signed – Golf, hands down.
7. Hobbies that waste your money – Gambling, in which I have a confession to make. Usually during early of every month, I would gamble my money on snooker. I don’t suck at the game, though my friends are better than I do. You could see where this is going so I’ll leave it at that. This addiction of mine has been going on since I came back to Malaysia in early January. Coming from a gambler, heed my advice, don’t gamble. No matter how good you think you are, others will always be better than you. The house will always win in the end of the day.
So depending on your priorities, you might pick a hobby that is healthy and one that helps you profit. I have too many so it doesn’t really matter for me. Have fun!
Photo Credit: Vramak
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My main hobby is my family, my other hobby is making a profit
Steven Aitchison´s last blog ..You Are a Failure – A Letter To You
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Karlil Reply:
October 23rd, 2009 at 12:25 pm
I think your hobby is writing Steven. I can see you write a lot. Your articles are everywhere! ;p
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Hey Nik, I also think hobbies are important. I raise Japanese Bonsai trees and I like it because it has absolutely nothing to do with anything else in my life. It’s like meditating or something, I just get lost in those trees and take a vacation from everything else.
Jonathan – Advanced Life Skills´s last blog ..15 Funny Reasons Not to Take Him Shopping
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Karlil Reply:
October 23rd, 2009 at 12:27 pm
I can understand why you got lost in those tree Jonathan. Bonsai is super cute. It’s like the mini version of a big grown tree. Something like a mini-me.
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I think lots of hobbies fit into several categories. I love reading, it calms me down, improves my mind and makes me more money in the long run. I am also a big yoga advocate – it is great for both your mind (helps to quiet that mind chatter in your head) and body.
Great blog you have here, Nik!
Lana – DreamFollowers Blog´s last blog ..Relationships Advice – Other People Are Just Mirror Images Of You
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I can imagine the type of book you read Lana. As for me, I usually go for suspense, thriller genre. Thanks for the wonderful comment.
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Having an hobby that makes you money is like a job that you like
Oscar – freestyle mind´s last blog ..What are your Limiting Beliefs?
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It certainly is Oscar.
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Hi,
I am new here.. great posts!
Cheers
Frugal Expat´s last blog ..Frugal Expat’s Budget Birthday Road Trip
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Karlil Reply:
October 24th, 2009 at 4:35 am
Thanks for the comment Frugal.
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Hi Karlil.
Most of these do look like the right kind of habit to have. I like your focus on habits here, because habits repeat themselves over and over throughout our days until we change them, so a developed good habit makes it easy to get rewards in the longer-term.
Hobbies that improve your mind are not too popular, but the people that make use of those are then able to speed past the competition, because their mind remains in active shape, as opposed to being left unused for critical thinking. There is a lot that we gain by maintaining the part of our brain that solves riddles, puzzles, and logic problems.
Armen Shirvanian´s last blog ..A Hello Video With A Booming Introduction
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Karlil Reply:
October 24th, 2009 at 4:39 am
I absolutely agree Armen. I love playing minesweeper. It a game that comes in a bundle with Windows. Not so sure if Mac provide them. Anyway, the game is really good for critical thinking imo. It’s also fun, not to mention free.
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Hi Nik. Fortunately my hobbies, like reading, are also my main way of learning new things. I love them for their own sake and I also believe learning is the very best investment you can make in your future. It’s a perfect match for me.
Stephen – Rat Race Trap´s last blog ..Irrational Decisions – Anchoring and Arbitrary Coherence
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Karlil Reply:
October 24th, 2009 at 4:43 am
Reading is definitely a good habit to instill Stephen. Though most people tend to read but does not make use of the knowledge that he learns, and slowly but surely, he forgets it. This is why I would not recommend reading too many books at one go. It’s pointless, unless of course we are talking about fiction books and the likes.
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Hey, I like the differentiation you made between hobbies that require a partner and “solo hobbies”. I was thinking the second ones are better because you don’t depend on anyone. Than I realized that the first ones aren’t so bad either, if you have a lot of options for partners.
For example, I do some salsa dancing. When I go into a salsa club, sure, there might be some girls that are not interested in dancing with me. But there are so many girls in that club, I have so many options, it doesn’t really matter.
Eduard
Ideas With A Kick´s last blog ..Self-improvement is masturbation
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Karlil Reply:
October 24th, 2009 at 4:46 am
Hi Eduard. It must be fun doing Salsa. To be honest, I never tried dancing before, discounting breakdance and silly disco moves. Are the steps hard to learn?
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More like don’t gamble without a set budget. In fact only bring a limited amount of cash with you. While its still not recommended if you really love it than its your money to spend. I would also recommend finding games that you would also play whether it was a gamble or not.
Justin- AlittleBetter.net´s last blog ..Lets Play a Game
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I did Justin. I have a set budget. I just hate it when I finished my budget early in the month. I really need to cut down this hobby of mine. It’s getting really expensive.
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Justin- AlittleBetter.net Reply:
October 25th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
Hmmm, I’ve been toying with an idea of impulse saving. What if every time you gambled you had to raise a savings account the same number that you want to gamble, than as soon as you had enough getting a bond, so that you couldn’t spend the money right away? (This is something I’ve been thinking about doing for impulse buys)
Justin- AlittleBetter.net´s last blog ..Lets Play a Game
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Karlil Reply:
October 26th, 2009 at 1:24 am
I have no idea if that’s going to work. Though it does sound like a good idea. I’ll be sure to give it a try Justin. Thanks for the tip.
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Warning: slightly but not totally off topic. Do you ever meet couples who do absolutely everything together? We met a couple like that not long ago and they bragged about doing everything together for the last 25 years. My partner and I were really put off by their physical “clinginess” as well as what they said. Their relationship seemed really restrictive and suffocating compared to ours but as they say, whatever floats your boat.
After meeting that couple on the weekend we were visiting with 3 other couples and we brought up how oye preferences for hobbies had changed over the years, and how those differences affected our relationships.
Childhood hobbies – When we were kids we were drawn into hobbies our parents were already involved in or channeled us towards becoming involved in.
Teen hobbies – When we became teens we were drawn into hobbies our friends were into and chose to jettison some activities our family members were into that we didn’t really enjoy.
Hobbies during the courting and honeymoon period – When we first became attracted to each other we became deeply involved in each others hobbies to the exclusion of all other interests.
After we married and developed greater self confidence and security within our relationships, we began to pursue hobbies that we were attracted to even when our partners weren’t into the same hobbies. Now we can see that the freedom we allowed each other to pursue differing hobbies led to enriching our relationship through sharing what we learned, saw and did with others outside of our relationships. We all agreed that without our inherent trust of each other, we would have been unable to grant our partner’s the freedom to be themselves, and to stretch and grow as individuals.
timethief´s last blog ..thistimespace: my new tumblr blog
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Awesome comment Time. I can’t agree more. I believe hobbies have a lot to do with age and the people with happen to mix with. And that includes our partners and spouse. Giving each other space to pursue their own interest is definitely better in my opinion as well. Thanks for the wonderful comment.
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