picture via pinterest
The new year represents a new start in a new period of our lives even if it’s just another date change. But it’s symbolic and an opportunity to try new things for example to pick up a new hobby. This hobby can be for improving yourself and your skill or simply for fun to spice up your life.
I’ve collected fifteen hobby ideas that I consider starting or doing more of in 2023 for you to draw inspiration from. Most of these are pretty easy.
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Languages
Learning a new language is a useful skill to develop whether for travel, career, communication or for your own enjoyment. Most languages are easy to start by learning online with Duolingo, on Youtube, or other language-learning websites. There are a lot of creators on social media that give advice for language learning as well.
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Collage making
For all creative people and aesthetic lovers, this is an excellent hobby. You can use your own pictures or pictures from other sources like Pinterest. Start a journal and print out the pictures you want to use or create collages digitally on websites like The Landing or Pinterest Shuffle. If you want, you can share them on social media too but more about social media later.
With these collages, you can visualize your dreams and goals like your dream wardrobe, your dream apartment, your dream lifestyle, etc. These vision boards are a powerful tool to manifest your aspirations.
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Cooking & Baking
This will definitely be a huge focus for me in 2023 because it’s such a useful ability to acquire. Living a healthy and balanced lifestyle is a goal for me to maintain in 2023 and cooking healthy meals plays a great part in achieving it. You can find many recipes, healthy or not, all over the Internet to cook or bake at home. Trying new recipes and keeping a recipe book with all your favorites is a practical investment for your future.
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Trying a new type of exercise
Signing up for a pilates or yoga class might be expensive but is a great opportunity to move your body and meet new people in the process. If you don’t want to spend money, you can do pilates or yoga classes at home. You can find many videos on youtube.
Of course, pilates and yoga are not the only sports you can try. Inform yourself about the sport you want to attempt in your area. You might stumble upon clubs and offers you never thought existed.
Some sports to try could be dancing, climbing, soccer, badminton, tennis, volleyball, and many more.
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Chess
Chess is a game that relies on strategic thinking to win. You need to calculate your steps carefully to outsmart your opponent. By practicing strategic thinking through chess you develop this valuable skill. Over time that can serve and help you in many other areas of life. It’s not only a skill but can also be quite fun.
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Painting/Drawing
Never forget to neglect your creativity even if you’re a person that relies on logic. Drawing and painting are creative processes that enhance your ability to think creatively. You don’t have to be good or even decent at it, it’s not about the skill in the first place, it’s about translating your emotions and thoughts into a piece of art. And remember art is subjective.
You can also focus on developing the skill instead of looking at it as a self-care practice. If you want to go this route there are many drawing tutorials all over the Internet to draw inspiration from or you can join a course.
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Fashion, Skin Care, and Make-Up
In 2023 I will focus on my sense of style and how to build my own timeless wardrobe. I started creating Pinterest boards based on the aesthetic I want to have and then analyzed the board based on pieces and noted down key staple pieces for my shopping list. The way you dress sends a signal, subconsciously or not, to the people around you and has an impact on (first) impressions. It’s an act of self-expression as well.
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Writing
Writing can be pursued in many forms: fiction writing, blogging, journaling, copywriting, poetry, scriptwriting, etc. There is a range of different writing styles to try with benefits to each one. I have tried fiction writing and poetry before now writing consistently on this blog which brings me great joy even if I have to force myself often to start but once I do I’m glad that I did. Through writing, you can explore your mind and deal with your emotions from a different perspective. Additionally writing is a form of communication and improving this skill can bring a lot of benefits overall.
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Gardening & Raising Plants
I am a total plant lover and constantly buying new plants, it’s my guilty pleasure. Seeing plants growing because I’m taking care of them brings me joy. They add a great touch of color to my more minimalistic white furniture room.
Recently I started to plant my own herbs to have fresh herbs to cook with. Growing some of your own food is so satisfying.
Taking care of plants teaches responsibility and is a practice of consistency.
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Content Creation
Social Media has an increasing impact on everyday lives, marketing, and education. Creating more opportunities for individuals like you and me to share a piece of them or their minds on a platform. You can effortlessly join and build communities to share and learn about your interests beyond your social circle and evolve further in life.
Creatively creating content is a know-how that will be useful for a long time.
There are four major subcategories to dive into:
Editing: Photo and Video editing can be convenient for numerous projects in work and personal life, especially if you’re a content creator on TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube.
Design: Designing feed slides for Instagram or promoting your blog post on Pinterest requires know-how in using Photoshop, Canva, or any other editing app. There are different editing apps with different levels of complexity. Knowledge of Adobe Photoshop which falls under the more complex category is an asset appreciated by employers.
Photography: Through photos, we can catch the beauty of life permanently. We can document life from different angles. It’s an artistic, creative, or professional hobby or all combined. You can choose how you want to pursue it.
Filming: Similar to photography filming is all about capturing life and finding all the right angles. It’s a way to capture memories as long as you ensure they are captured through a camera and your senses.
You can also visually teach through video since a lot of people learn well visually.
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Jewelry
Jewelry instantly spices up every outfit. By making your own jewelry you create the pieces individually for you. You can choose the style and add your own personal touch while having fun creatively creating pieces that you would actually wear.
On Amazon or other websites, you can find kits to start assembling your own jewelry which is a cost upfront but it will be worth the experience.
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Learning an instrument
I’ve played instruments in the past but stopped when life got too busy. While I was still playing an instrument I really enjoyed it, it was so fun to learn and play different songs whether they are classics or pop songs it’s always so satisfying to finally master a song or piece.
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Nail Art
Personally, I love painting my nails myself. For one because it’s cheaper and secondly I enjoy the process. Every Sunday I paint my nails while watching a movie and every Sunday I get a little bit better at it.
Having my nails done makes me feel put together and trying to do little designs on them feels personal and looks so cute.
For everyone that loves being creative, I would definitely recommend getting into nail art.
For some inspiration check out my ‘nail inspiration blog post’.
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Reading
This is one of the most common hobbies on this list. Every person has read at least one book in their lifetime either forcefully in school or voluntarily. For me, reading has two main purposes: entertainment and learning. I use fiction books to escape reality and live through characters a totally different life. Non-fiction books provide me with the information I seek while often giving examples to understand the matter on a deeper level. Both types of books have separate uses for me but I do them simultaneously. Through reading, you will become a better writer too since you visually see sentences and collect different types of word combinations subconsciously.
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Budgeting & Planning
The last point on this list can’t really be seen as a hobby since it doesn’t promise any fun, at least to most of us. However, it is a necessary skill to adapt in 2023 to become the best version of yourself. Keeping track of your finances can limit impulse purchases, avoids financial chaos, and helps you invest and save money.
Saving and investing money is important to upgrade financially and afford the lifestyle that you crave to achieve in the future. So make a plan for your finances and your future plans. Planning is a great habit to integrate not only for your finances but for goals, meals, appointments, and schedules as well.
For most of us starting a new hobby is difficult because we don’t have much experience or don’t feel motivated to but it is easier to do than we think. It might make our life more interesting, and fun and teaches us new skills that come in handy later on. I talked a lot about how these hobbies benefit you in terms of skills and career but I strongly advise you to choose a hobby that you’re interested in and that is fun for you. Remember you’re not a constant improvement project and life is supposed to be fun too.
