You Need 5 Hobbies

The first time I saw this “You Need 5 Hobbies” forward on LinkedIn in November 2020, I was instantly fascinated. What this meant was that the hobbies should serve some “purpose”. Hobbies that can fetch you some money, keep you fit & creative, add some wisdom and impact the way we perceive the world. Wow, it was easy to picturize how these 5 hobbies cover the various aspects of our overall personal development. Before I realized, I found myself busy forwarding this new found inspiration to my close contacts on WeChat that day. I then started jotting down my hobbies against each of these 5 categories. This was truly an eye-opener of sorts, when I found that I had lost touch of my hobbies over the years; there were in-fact no hobbies against most categories.

What is a hobby? Here is what I got from Wikipedia: A hobby is considered to be a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one’s leisure time, not professionally or for pay. Hobbies tend to follow trends in society, for example stamp collecting was popular during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as postal systems were the main means of communication, while video games are more popular nowadays following technological advances. So, it should be a “regular” activity that we actively engage in our leisure time.

ONE TO MAKE MONEY: The first thought that came to my mind was that I enjoy my day job and probably I could categorize this as my hobby. But as the Internet righty clarifies, hobby should not be tied to profession . Today when I google for hobbies that make money, blogging tops the chart in several searches, interestingly. Although my blogsite is light years behind this money-making stage, it was good to know that I am heading in the right direction. There are the not-so-surprising hobbies listed as money-making; Stock market, Real Estate investments, Web/App development, Teaching, Cooking, Photography, Painting, YouTube Channel, Standup Comedy, etc. Then there are some very unique money-making hobbies such as Showing off your city (like Airbnb Experiences) , dog walking, Playing Video games, Gardening, etc. Go ahead, take your pick and make some money whilst having some fun.

ONE TO KEEP YOU IN SHAPE: No, Round is not a shape. This one is a no-brainer and we all know that “Health is Wealth” and how important it is to keep ourselves fit; now much more emphatically in the covid era. However, until I bumped into this picture, I had never thought of having a hobby that keeps me fit. Bicycling is an amazing experience here in Shanghai, with dedicated bike lanes and some awesome bicycle tracks. I was bicycling here and there, albeit in haphazard manner. Now, I decided that Bicycling is my claim to fame in keeping me fit and quite religiously doing it every weekend, ever since. There are several sports to choose from running to swimming, various forms of dancing, etc. So, what are you waiting for? Pick your favorite & do it regularly, your body will thank you for that.

ONE TO KEEP YOU CREATIVE: I love doing (mostly English) poetry, a hobby that was well nurtured during my school days. I like to write articles, experience & travelogues, but I haven’t been doing it regularly. With this blogsite, I have promised myself to publish an article every weekend. There are fantastic other creative hobbies like painting, drawing, singing, playing musical instruments, DIY kits, jewelry making, Acting, Modeling, crafts, etc. Creativity exercises the right side of your brain, and to keep both the “cores” of your processor, do make any of these creative delights as hobby.

ONE TO BUILD KNOWLEDGE: Reading books should be one of the front runners in this category. Although I do some reading, again its not regular. Some might enroll into learning courses, online or otherwise to build knowledge. There are several online courses to chose from, once you know what kind of knowledge you like to build on. Reading or watching news is a good hobby to keep abreast of the current affairs situation in the world. Again, there are lots of choices here, depending on your topic of interest. As they say “Learning never stops”, so keep on learning. Knowledge is power!

ONE TO EVOLVE YOUR MINDSET: Meditation & Yoga should top the list here. Reading inspirational books is another way of gaining wisdom from someone else’s learning. I remember how reading Sapiens and Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari completely changed my mindset on how I look at the Human race now. Watching videos by inspirational folks like Simon Sinek, Sadhguru and other fantastic “gurus” changes one’s thought process for good. Traveling is another fantastic hobby to gain insights into other culture’s and values, thus evolving your mindset. You could visit a place with different expectations, and then come back loaded with orthogonal view of the destination. I had this experience when a short trip to Japan changed my beliefs about that country entirely, for good.

As a kid, I remember declaring coins, currency notes and stamps collection as my hobby. I don’t know where these fit in the above 5 categories, probably can make some money selling the old relics? who knows? Probably you could juggle them around and drop them into a category that makes sense to you, based on your understanding. And maybe some hobbies can fill more than one category. However you do it, make sure you have one hobby marked against each category. Have fun!