Five Hobbies Everyone Needs

Find your next hobby below

Author

Tommy Halkyard
February 23, 2024

1,318 Words | 6 Min 35 Sec Read

Dear Younger Me,

Who doesn’t love a good hobby?

I know I do and I imagine you do as well.

But what is the purpose of hobbies?

I think I may have found the answer…

This week, I want to dive into all things hobbies and how you can actively think about, choose, and even change your hobbies to align the purpose of hobbies to the improvement of your daily life.

Hobbies can come in all shapes and sizes. From reading to climbing. From active to passive. However, I was recently pondering the purpose of hobbies when I came upon a graphic that may have just answered my question. It is the inspiration for this letter:

There was my answer right here in this graphic. The purpose of hobbies is to fulfill one of the five buckets listed above. So, I dove deeper to share with you WHY you should have hobbies that pertain to one of the five buckets and WHAT hobbies actually exist that relate to the buckets (with a challenge at the very end). If you are interested in jumping to a specific bucket, you can do so below:

Let’s begin.

Improve Your Mindset

The last category on the graphic is arguably the most important.

Why?

An improved mindset is the foundation that your entire life can be built on.

An improved mindset extends beyond hobbies. It can be the cornerstone that shapes the way you approach life, challenges, and opportunities. Finding and starting a hobby that cultivates a growth mindset means embracing challenges and seeing effort as a path to mastery.

Think of these hobbies as activities that become habits that lead to a better life. Some examples include:

  • Journaling

  • Cold-Showers

  • Goal Setting

Again, these may not be the first thing you think of when you hear “hobby.” Yet, making these hobbies a part of your daily rhythms will cultivate habits that will be the foundation for your mindset to grow.

Does that make more sense?

To start a hobby that grows your mindset, choose one of the three I listed above and dedicate five minutes to it TODAY.

Then another five minutes tomorrow.

Bake it into your calendar so you have time to do it.

And watch the wonders that come with.

Improve Your Body

If a growing mind is the cornerstone for approaching life, than a healthy body is the cornerstone for a FLOURISHING life.

You don’t just have to take my word for it. Check out this article by McKinsey experts discussing the trends of six wellness categories going into the next decade (2030). Here are some of my favorites below:

  • Sleep data will connect to everything

  • Gyms will rival Starbucks as the “third place” outside home and office

These people are smart because this is already starting to come true. Businesses like Whoop, Oura Ring, and Eight Sleep are working towards advancing how we can use data to inform our sleep. If you have some dollars to dish out - investing into one of these three products would be a great way to kick start a hobby to improve your body.

Not ready for that big of a step? Let’s talk the second trend. As gyms start becoming the new social "third place," the key will be finding a physical activity that you enjoy.

Whether it's a local running club, yoga classes, or a group fitness challenge, choose a hobby that gets your body moving consistently.

How do you actually integrate? Do what you like! Be it strength, flexibility, endurance, or relaxation. Then, figure out whether it is a local gym, online community, or recreational league that supports what you enjoy and get going with it!

Remember, the best physical hobby is one that you look forward to every day.

Improve Your Wallet

We live in a world with a million ways to make a million dollars. Especially in the age of the internet (and AI) we are truly living in a golden age for hobbies that make you more money.

Check out this fantastic clip from Callum, who specializes in turning hobbies into cash-creation:

Callum boils it down into two main takeaways:

  1. Value Creation: Aim to provide a service that delivers significant value to others. For instance, if your goal is to earn $1,000, identify opportunities where you can contribute to a business or individual's success in a way that your efforts are worth 10% of the value you bring, such as generating $10,000 in additional revenue for them.

  2. Reframe Challenges: Encountering financial obligations, like a parking ticket, can be a prompt to creatively generate income. Ask yourself, "How can I offer value that compensates for this expense?" This mindset shift turns everyday challenges into opportunities for growth and income.

How the heck do I even provide $100 worth of value let alone $10,000.

I got you covered. See below for some skills that pay:

  • Digital Marketing: Helping businesses improve their online presence and sales.

  • Web Development and Design: Creating or enhancing websites for businesses.

  • Consulting in Your Area of Expertise: Offering your knowledge to solve specific problems.

  • Content Creation: Producing valuable content that attracts paying partnerships or sponsorships.

This is only a starting point - but as long as begin by reframing obligations as opportunities to provide value, the hobbies to grow your wallet will come flying in.

Improve Your Knowledge

Wait, didn’t we just talk about this with mindset?

Actually, improving knowledge is a little bit different.

Think of mindset as the way in which you view and respond to the world.

Think of knowledge as what you know about the world.

The problem is there is so many things to know, where should we start?

Naval Ravikant, a renowned entrepreneur and thinker, has a section of his famous 2018 tweet storm that answers that exact questions:

Here are some resources that have helped me become more knowledgeable on things that matter:

Looks like a lot of potential hobbies to get started on. Whether it is reading, learning, coding, or watching videos - let it be a hobby that contributes to growing your knowledge.

Improve Your Creativity

Let’s get personal.

This whole letter was born “for my personal reflection. I would be content if you never read a word, but really these letters to younger me are letters to you. Letters to help you think, grow, and be better than you were before.”

That was from my first ever newsletter. It remains a core purpose today.

I wanted a creative outlet to help you be able to look inside my reflective brain to try and uncover insights that may just help you be better than you were before reading.

Turns out, writing is a great hobby for improving my creativity.

So, whether it is writing, drawing, music, or cooking - find an outlet that lets the creative in all of us shine!

Five hobbies everyone needs to have:

  • One for mindset

  • One for health

  • One for money

  • One for knowledge

  • One for creativity

I want to offer a challenge.

A way to level up beyond the five hobbies you can use to have a better life:

Find a single hobby (or maybe two) that combines all five categories in one.

I’ll let you find the answer. Send me a reply if you figure one out.

Best,

Older You