Can Hobbies Actually Make You a Better Person?

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0:41Need a hiring hero? This is a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs. Hobbies. They're often one of the first things to go out the window when life gets busy, but they shouldn't be. We need to prioritize our hobbies just as much as we prioritize work because hobbies, they make us better people.

1:05One study from the Society of Behavioral Medicine suggests that people who take part in leisure activities have fewer negative emotions and are less stressed. The study even found that our heart rates are literally lower when we engage in our hobbies. So over the last few weeks I followed the science and I tried out four new hobbies that are supposed to make me a better and more creative and happier person. I got eaten alive. I just felt all of this flour. I think I'm just in like a really bad mood this morning. My thoughts kind of started screaming at me to try and do something else. But did it actually work?

1:46And will it work for you? Let's find out. If you want to be less stressed, try hiking. I just got done with work and I drove to this trail that's right nearby my apartment. I'm going to go for a short hike and just see how that makes me feel after a long work day. Apparently there are a lot of benefits to hiking or even just like walking around your neighborhood. According to the CDC, going for a walk can help improve your sleep, your thinking, your learning all while reducing your symptoms of stress and anxiety all right i'm back in my car i just finished my hike and i feel really really good like seriously the moment i stepped out on the trail just like it smelled amazing and the fresh air was great i think this is realistically a hobby that i could do more frequently um next time i will definitely wear bug spray because I got eaten alive.

2:49This hobby may be for you if you often find yourself needing to clear your head, you have no extra money left in your budget, but you do own a good pair of shoes, and you're not afraid of bugs. If you want to build self-esteem, try cooking. It's gnocchi time. Welcome to my kitchen. I'm really excited to try out cooking as an actual hobby. I am an adult. I eat food and I have cooked for myself but I don't enjoy doing it so I'm just excited to try out a new recipe and just have a little bit more fun with it so I know cooking doesn't sound like a hobby kind of sounds more like a chore but there's apparently a lot more to cooking than well cooking according to the Wall Street Journal some counselors encourage their patients to take cooking classes because following a recipe can actually help you build self-esteem and curb negative thinking.

3:47All right, I did it. And I'm going to take my first bite right now. I loved my gnocchi and I kind of love this hobby. So now that I am done, I feel good. I feel really accomplished. It definitely wasn't easy whatsoever. I just spilled all of this flour. No. If I wanted to keep this hobby up, it would be probably one of the most time-consuming ones. And then, of course, now I have, like, all of this cleanup to do, which is never fun. But overall, I think it's worth it. This hobby may be for you if you love dining out, but your wallet doesn't, you're looking to build a new skill that doesn't have to do with work, and you want to impress all of your friends at a dinner party.

4:38If you want to be happier, try journaling. So I am going to start gratitude journaling today. My Propel Fitness Water with Gatorade electrolytes, zero sugar, and vitamins. Propel hydrates better than water to help you get the most out of your workout and get back to your best self. What propels you? Propel with Gatorade electrolytes. When you need to build up your team to handle the growing chaos at work, use Indeed Sponsored Jobs. It gives your job post the boost it needs to be seen and helps reach people with the right skills, certifications and more. Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes.

5:17Listeners of this show will get a$75 sponsored job credit at Indeed.com slash podcast. That's Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need a hiring hero? This is a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs. My plan is to journal every morning before work and write down three things that I'm grateful for that day. Journaling has a ton of benefits, especially gratitude journaling. Research shows that practicing gratitude can help you balance out your negative emotions. When we express gratitude, our brains release dopamine and serotonin, which are two hormones that help us feel happier and lighter inside.

6:00So I just sat down to journal for the day and I was having a really hard time coming up with three things that I feel grateful for. I think I'm just in like a really bad mood this morning. So I looked up some prompts. So I'm answering the question, what am I better at today than I was a year ago? It's easy to feel low and to not notice the small or even big things in our lives that bring us joy. writing down things like I love watching the birds from my window as I work or I ate some delicious gnocchi yesterday. It really helped me remember that there are a lot of things to be happy about. So I really liked this hobby.

6:42I think there was definitely days where I didn't want to do it and it felt more like homework or chore which hobbies probably shouldn't feel like that but on the days that I did do it, I felt a lot better. This hobby may be for you if you don't have a ton of time for your hobbies. You tend to be naturally pessimistic and you have a whole shelf of journals just begging to be used. If you want to be more creative, try coloring. Today I'm going to be trying out coloring as my hobby. I think it's gonna be fun. I think it's gonna be relaxing. I for some reason think I'm gonna be bad at it. I don't know why I think that, but let's try it out and see what happens.

7:28Doing something creative in your spare time, it's supposed to help you be creative in other parts of your life too. One study at Drexel University found that spending just 45 minutes on a creative activity could boost your ability and confidence to complete tasks at work. I tried coloring while watching TV and listening to a podcast. I even tried coloring while doing nothing else to try and unlock that mindfulness component. Okay, so reporting back, I really like this hobby. I thought that it was something that was really easy to do. It didn't take a lot of brain power, but it did unlock that creative element of my mind.

8:09I would say at points I definitely got bored, you know, especially when I was coloring without anything else going on. My thoughts kind of started screaming at me to try and do something else. I think I'm really used to a lot of stimulation, like kind of overload, and so to sit in silence and color, it's not really what I'm used to, so it felt super weird, but I guess that's probably why this is a good hobby for me. This hobby may be for you if you want to do something creative, but you're not the most artistically inclined. You need a hobby that will distract you from doom scrolling all night.

8:47Or if you have a favorite Crayola crayon color. Mine is mac and cheese. Final verdict. My favorite hobby out of the ones that I tried was cooking. Which was super surprising to me because cooking is normally an activity that I dread doing every day. But I think that's what made it so fun, right? It was like taking a task that I normally hate doing and making it fun and engaging. And plus it was delicious. So I know the focus of this video was on finding hobbies that could somehow benefit me in other parts of my life. But I want to share a reminder, not just for you, but for me too, that sometimes it's okay for a hobby to just be that, a hobby, something that you love to do in your spare time.

9:38I hope that you're making time for yourself and for your hobbies too. Thanks for watching! I want to know, did you try any of these hobbies? Which was your favorite? Let me know in the comments or suggest some hobbies you want me to try out next time. Okay, bye! Fall has never looked or tasted this good. Sweet Green's Fall Harvest Menu is back with seasonal favorites dressed to impress and made to be devoured. Warm roasted sweet potatoes, crisp apples, maple glazed Brussels, and crave-worthy flavors in the autumn harvest bowl, maple glazed salmon plate, and roasted bacon Brussels side. The season's most desirable menu has returned to Sweetgreen, featuring fall's best dressed.

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