Hobbies are important for our health: why we need ones we are good & bad at

Hobbies are the underrated magic ingredient that we don’t talk about enough.

“Medical researchers have found that spending time on hobbies is good for your body and mind. People with hobbies tend to be less depressed, have better cardiovascular health, and show more interest in the world around them, which is a marker of good mental health.”

So doing hobbies alone—whether we are good or bad at them—is beneficial for us. They keep us learning new things, getting out of the house, and forging new connections with others who have similar interests.

Why is it important to do activities that you aren’t good at then?

When we don’t pursue a hobby because we “aren’t good at it,” we limit ourselves from partaking in new activities. With everything, especially the things that we are good at, we’ve had to start somewhere. And in the modern world, it oftentimes seems like if you aren’t good at it or monetizing from it on social media, then it’s not worth it. But that’s far from reality.

We need to push ourselves to learn that new dance or show up at violin or singing lessons, even when we know we aren’t good at it. If we always limit ourselves to the things that we are good at, we don’t give ourselves the opportunity to explore new passions and skills. We never give ourselves the chance to discover that we are good at things. Judging ourselves off of two minutes of trying to sing and automatically comparing ourselves with Ariana Grande isn’t helping us. It’s not a fair comparison.

The more we participate in new hobbies, ones we aren’t good at and even the ones we are good at, we learn more about ourselves: how we operate in new environments, how to be adaptable and brave, and we also learn things we may not have learned otherwise. It’s such a humbling experience to remember what it’s like to be a beginner, to approach an activity with fresh eyes, to let ourselves suck at something.

Hobbies have huge benefits in general, and when we let ourselves try something new, we can find that spark that we can oftentimes lose when we get competitive or perfectionist about the hobbies we expect ourselves to be good at.

Starting something as a beginner is an invitation to be messy and to laugh at ourselves as we navigate a passion that once we might’ve thought we weren’t capable of doing.