Play is what makes life enjoyable. It’s what balances our well-being. All work and no play equal psychological disarray. If you studied some of the most successful people, you would find several common denominators among them. One of the denominators is that they all have passionate hobbies. For example:

• Former President, George W. Bush, is an avid painter

• Actress Susan Sarandon calls herself a ping-pong propagandist

• Billionaire Richard Branson’s favorite sport is kiteboarding

• Investor Warren Buffet plays a lot of online bridge

• Inventor Albert Einstein loved to sail 

• Apple Founder Steve Jobs played guitar

• Actress Angelina Jolie collects daggers 

• Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin does trapeze 

Hobbies allow us to escape from work and replenish our quality of life. All work plus no play equals psychological disarray. When we engage in an enjoyable hobby, we invest in our well-being. Having healthy creative outlets allows us to decompress from stress. Everyone should have a hobby that they can get lost in at times. The oscillation from work to play generates more creative energy. Remember playing cars as a kid with Hot Wheels, micro-machines, or whatever type of toy you had? You could set up tracks with three-hundred-sixty-degree loops right in the middle. 

These loops would create momentum for the car to keep going until it reached the finish line. As the car made its way down the loop, it would pick up an extreme amount of force to keep moving. In the same way, hobbies create a propelling loop that gives us the mental and physical strength to keep persevering. They reward us with improved creativity, emotional restoration, self-confidence, stress relief, social connection, idea generating, leadership lessons, and broader awareness. Simply put, hobbies are extremely good for the soul and the mind.