TL;DR
Hobbies should be attempts to manage your weaknesses, rather than doubling down on your strengths, because it (1) gets you in the habit of accepting to be bad at something, but then realizing through practice that you can improve (2) improve creativity to arrive at novel and creative solutions, in work and in life.
Whom am I speaking to? Who is this going to help?
The one-dimensional loser who is socially awkward.
My Practical Experience
Back when my I was focused on climbing the career ladder, my only hobbies after work included working more or exercising–that’s it! I didn’t much else.
Did I do a lot at work? You bet. Did that work significantly improve my career standing? Nope.
You see, while “getting things done” is good, it should not be done so at the expense of (1) being likable; since the world favors likeable people (not an opinion, simply a fact of how the world really works) (2)communication skills
Now what do I mean by communication? It means having the space to think and articulate which path to move forward on a project, and negotiate/persuade your teammates why your work matters.
It also means helping your teammates resolve their own issues, and to justify to your boss why you deserve a raise.
Not in my past mistake; I simply crunched all day every day, and hoped that the good word of mouth from my peers would be enough.
News flash: No one is thinking about you.
Where would I be if I took that time to go to a toast masters, or improve classes? What about salsa dancing, or simply developing a good sense of humor with people at a comedy club?
And I suppose like will teach you which areas you suck at that need to be managed. Ideally, you should notice these areas quickly, rather than ignoring them and doubling down on your strengths.
Here are a few examples I think of:
- If you’re a software engineer who rarely interacts with people, seek to have hobbies that make you uncomfortable, like social dancing, toastmasters, or comedy clubs
- If you’re already a chad extrovert, consider going on hikes alone in nature, or going somewhere private to read a book or lean what python programming is.
Thanks for the advice, now how can I practically put this to use in a simple way for daily execution?
Yes, use your strengths to your advantage, but not at the expense of completing ignoring your weaknesses.
Rather than maximizing your strengths, cultivate the attitude of “managing your weaknesses”. This idea of “managing weakness” was something I specially picked up from my mentor Sutanay at work.
From my practical experience, living with my family has been the single greatest improvement in my ability to speak and communicate with people–basically act like a normal person.
After that, I highly recommend writing every day, whether it’s blogging or journaling, the ability to articulate your thoughts into paper will make you deadly and formidable is social encounters.
Why? Because when you’re writing about your own unique experience, you can speak with confidence about what works and doesn’t work, because you’ve done it. Start small, like maybe blogging about the differences between bed sheets and how they impact your sleep, and then gradually accrue more experiences like how to learn salsa dancing, or how to run a small business, etc.