Today, many people know that while spending money on

objects improves short-term happiness, spending time on activities and

experiences is much more cost-effective and brings long term life satisfaction.
Here are 25 hobbies to achieve more and live to a higher potential.
1. Read good books: Pick a topic, any topic. Then find the best authors on that
topic, and read their top rated books. Its a great way to keep yourself learning
and growing as an individual. It will open you up to new ideas and take you to
new places.
A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies The man who never reads lives only

one. -George R.R. Martin

2. Enjoy podcasts/audio-books: Many people listen to podcasts or audio-books
when they drive. Some even have the good fortune of being able to listen while
at work. Free ebooks are available here and free audio-books are available here.
3. Create Music: Anyone can do it. Pick an instrument and watch some videos
to get started. The fastest way to create music is to learn a song, and then make
a similar one with your own twists. For those more technically inclined, we
recommend FL Studio. It is a great program to create music with.
4. Draw: Whether its with pen and a pad of paper or with the ever-loved Adobe
Illustrator, drawing is one of the greatest ways to calm the mind and stimulate
creativity.
5. Educate yourself: Youve probably heard of Khan Academy. But what
about Udacity, P2PU, Open2Study, Webcast.Berkley, or Academic Earth? Much
of the education one pays for in college is available for little or free on the web.
6. Inform yourself: Its important to know whats going on in the world. Reddits
r/News and r/World News columns are consistently updated with the latest
news. Reuters is also a good choice.

7. Improve your mind: Practice makes perfect. With brain training games
from Luminosity, Cambridge Brain Sciences, and Brainworkshop, you can train
your brain to process information faster and function at a higher level.
8. Learn a new language: According to a recent study, learning a new language
has the added benefit of improving ones reasoning
skills.Duolingo and FluentU are great online resources. Here is the best book to
get started. Tip: singing words in a foreign language aids recall much better
than just reciting the words.
9. Chi-Gong: Calm your mind, improve your blood circulation, balance your
hormones and possibly even increase your life-span. Now scientifically backed,
Chi-Gong or Qi-Gong is taking the west by storm. Read Chi Gong: The Ancient
Chinese Way to Health.
10. Stretch: Our modern lives require us to sit in chairs for much time. As a
result, our hips and backs suffer. Many people notice that after just a few
minutes of stretching the right muscles, we feel much better and our
movements become more fluid. A Youtube search for Sridaiva Yoga will show
the latest and greatest practice of stretching, but simpler routines will have a
positive effect too.
11. Body weight exercises: Push-ups, pull-ups, and one-legged squats are
hands down the 3 best exercises you can do with no equipment (other than a
door-frame or tree branch for pull-ups.) Do these 3-5 times a week and observe
as your posture improves and your pains go away.
12. Run: Have a destination in mind, or just get out and explore. Put on some
zero-drop shoes to run with a more natural gait, or if you live by a beach, kick
off your shoes and run barefoot in the sand.

13. Climb: Hark back to the good ol days when we were swinging in trees and
did what we pleased. Just standing in front of a rock wall or a tree can trigger a
primal urge to climb. Find an indoor climbing wall to get started, and pretty
soon youll be conquering mountains.
14. Brainstorm product ideas: Have an idea for a new product? Post it
onQuirky and see if it gets accepted. If it is, you earn commission on each sale.
Alternatively, you can get into licensing, which has potential for even greater
payoffs. Read One Simple Idea by Stephen Key to get started.
15. Learn to code: Having the ability to code can open up many opportunities
for you. Whether you use it as something to fall back on or as a career
path, Udacity, Codecademy, and Treehouse are great places to learn the basics.
16. Build a sweat-lodge: A sauna in your own backyard. Its a great way to
refresh the body and mind. See here for how to build one.

17. Buy, sell, and trade on Craigslist: Sell your unneeded items, sell your
friends and familys unneeded items and split the profits, and buy strangers
unneeded items and sell those too. Start now, and one day you could turn our
like Steven Ortiz.

18. Watch documentaries: Few things can be as intriguing at a good

documentary. For quality documentaries, check out Vice,DocumentaryStorm,
and r/Documentaries.
19. Write: Just 30 minutes a day can turn into a great novel, blog, or other work.
In one study, expressive writing has been shown to improve objectively
assessed and self-reported physical health.
Great works are performed not by strength, but by perseverance.

-Samuel Johnson

20. Canoe: Its no wonder so many people enjoy paddling along a river bank or
across a pristine lake. The calming environment , fresh air, and scenic views
instill peace of mind and bring one closer to nature.
21. Traverse mountain ranges: For the ultimate scenic experience, find the
nearest mountain range and take a few days enjoying the peaks and valleys.

Take a few good friends or go it alone. Dont forget a flashlight!

22. Become a naturalist: Find a good book on local flora and fauna. Take a close
look at the plants, trees, birds, and other critters outside and try to identify
them. Learn more about the world around you!
23. Build medieval siege weapons: Schematics can be found through diligent
Google searching. Watching a watermelon soar through the air before impacting
the ground can be a very rewarding experience.
24. Become a nootropic user: The main reason people love tea is because of its
calming, anxiety-reducing properties. Believe it or not, l-theanine, one of the
main compounds in tea is a nootropic drug, meaning it increases blood-flow to
the brain, decreases anxiety, and enhances learning and memory. Other more
powerful nootropics include herbs such as rhodiola rosea (our favorite),
eleuthero root, cordyceps, schizandra berry, and ashwaghanda.
25. Use affirmations: Take a few seconds everyday to remind yourself of your
strengths and your goals. The science says that doing this can build a positive
self-image and greater life satisfaction.