To hobby or not to hobby... 🤗😝 this is a small guide for people who want to know more about hobby's and/or want to try something new!

What are your hobbies?

Is a question which is often asked. Maybe you know immediately what it is: what you like and where you are good at, or maybe you don't know the answer. It is always good to broaden your perspective. To know what you like and where you are good at. What calms you down and which things you better must avoid. Hobby's can make sure that your stress decreases and that you can be more happy and confident in life. This website can help you find something grounding for you to do. It gives you an overview of all kind of possible hobbies and the pro's and cons of each hobby. It is always handy to reflect on how you spend your time and which aspect of life makes you really happy and what not.

How to act when starting something new?

This information can be handy when you want to try something new, but also when you encounter someone who is new in something which you can already way better.

• No Negative Opinion, Judgement, and Advice (NOJA). You are new in this! Don't be too harsh on yourself! It is very logic that you make mistakes. You can't do something immediately perfect and when you can, you can be happy about it, but don't punish yourself when something doesn't work out as smoothly as others do it or as you wanted it to happen. You can learn from others when they show you how you do the activity, but don't judge yourself saying: "the other person is way better than I am, I will never succeed!" The other person is in another situation than you are. You just have to discover for yourself if this new activity is something for you.
• Have compassion for yourself/the other. Negative experience in the past/present – maybe you think: I can't do this! When I was younger I hated it! People laughed /laugh at me when I did/do it. Try to feel if this is the case. What made it a negative experience? Mostly it is people judging too soon on you that you can't do something and be negative to you about it. When you really want to do something (intrinsic motivation) you will do it because you like it, and practice makes perfect! You can get better at it! You got this! - what ever you deside to do, when it is new for you, it is possibly scary for you.
• Be patient – improvement will come – how fast there can be improvements depends on your intrinsic motivation (you liking the hobby, having the discipline and willpower to practice) and the extrinsic motivation (Is it a nice place to practice this new activity? Are the people kind and patient towards you?)

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Together or alone?

Different kind of hobby's, what they can have in common Are you a team player? Something with one other person? Something just for yourself. You can also switch in this: a hobby which you can do together, but also alone. There are three different topics of things people did, already from the beginning of time!: Music Sport Religion You can also combine these with each other for example: singing a religious song (music and religion), dancing on a specific kind of music (sport and music), running for a charity (sport and religion). Things which are good to know when you try something new:

• Culture: There also is a kind of culture. You might sense it when you are new: the people do something, that's how they do it there. They are social afterwards ore totally not. They drink alcohol or totally not. They do things a kind of way, dress a kind of way. People assume stuff: When you are new, you are new 🤓😝. You encounter things which someone else, who did it a lot of time, isn't even worrying about. You ask yourself: how must I look? Do I fit in?
• Jargon: Every new item has its own jargon – language. When you are used to a specific thing, you won't even notice it. But when you are new, you might hear words, you never heard before, or never in this context.

Let's dive into the hobby's, here are some examples:

1. Crafting: baking, knitting, building, drawing, painting, coloring, writing
2. Gaming: online games, board games, games on the street
3. Puzzling: Jigsaw, sudoku, crossword

4. Music: dancing, playing an instrument, singing
5. Sport: soccer, boxing, gymnastics, walking, cycling, hocky, golf
6. Religion: meetings, socialising, charity, praying, yoga, mindfulness, in contact with nature and/or animals

These are just a couple of options. All these hobby's you can do on your own, as well as with people. You are free to choose. What can you expect when you do the activity just by yourself/ with two/ with more?

• Learning something on your own, needs discipline, + but you are not dependent on someone else, only yourself, you can decide when you want to do something and how long you are going to do it and how often. You are your own critic: - you miss personal feedback from someone who is more experiences. + You are the master of your own activity, you don't get any negative feedback either.
• Learning alone from a teacher/coach, + You get feedback from someone with knowledge and experience. You can decide if you do something with it. - You have to hope that your teacher is good in teaching you stuff. + Personal attention – If you have not practiced it, the teacher will notice it. This can be positive or negative, positive: you get something which serves as a threat: you have to do this before the next session. Negative: You might get anxious or scared when you hadn't enough time/motivation to practice.
• Learning together (without teacher/coach), - you are dependent of the other persons. If the other(s) give up, will you give up too? + You share your activity and you can share experiences.
• Learning in a group from a teacher/coach, less personal attention. + You can watch the teacher/coach and the other people doing the activity and learn from it. - It can be scary to be the newby in this group. Others might be all better than you are, and it might take a while to get the feeling that you fit in.

NB: Money: some activity's are more expensive than others.

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