7 Hobbies of Highly Effective People: How Hobbies are the Real Edge for Your Professional Personal Brand

Hobbies don’t just add personality to your personal brand; they give your professional potential depth and the creativity to take on any problem.

Here’s what highly effective people understand about the value of hobbies: Having hobbies makes you a multi-dimensional person. From a personal brand perspective, they add personality outside of your 9-5 title. But, effective leaders also understand that hobbies enhance your professional brand and capabilities, too. 

Hobbies elevate your interdisciplinary thinking. So, instead of offering linear solutions to non-linear problems, you broaden the perspective you bring to a problem or opportunity. 

Steve Jobs understood this well, saying: 

“A lot of people in our industry haven’t had very diverse experiences. So, they don’t have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have.”

It’s not just creatives who understand the value of thinking differently. In Free to Focus, productivity expert Michael Hyatt highlights that we celebrate the habits of highly effective people, but what about their hobbies? He quotes Psychiatrist Stuart Brown, who said, “Work does not work without play.” 

Hyatt proposes that we have three stages:

• Front stage: When you’re performing visibly. This is usually what others actually see.

• Backstage: What do you do to prepare for your front-stage time? This usually goes unseen.

• Off stage: Seemingly unrelated to your work, but still essential. It prepares you to perform in the other stages.

Your ‘off-stage’ interests provide context for the person behind the personal brand. Even if you never share the behind-the-scenes hobbies of your personal brand publicly, science supports the benefits of well-picked hobbies. 

Adam Grant, in his book Originals, also champions the importance of high-value hobbies. He suggests that research shows having them is a defining trait among entrepreneurs and inventors. Those who started businesses were more likely to have hobbies that involved drawing, painting, architecture, sculpture and literature. Grant says: 

“People who are open to new ways of looking at science and business also tend to be fascinated by the expression of ideas and emotions through images, sounds and words.” 

So, if you’re looking to start a new hobby behind the scenes of your personal brand, or rekindle a love of an old one, consider these highly effective hobbies:

1. Learning an instrument 

Playing an instrument is about much more than creating music to your ears; it actually enhances that very important organ between them, too. Research shows that playing an instrument changes your brain’s structure, increasing the grey matter volume in various regions. It also improves the connections between the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Music also integrates the senses of vision, hearing and touch with fine movements, and this can have a lasting impact.

I first started playing the piano when I was four. I took a small hiatus in late high school, returning to the piano during my twenties. Had I understood the science behind playing an instrument, I would have stayed consistent with this high-value hobby, which I am now on a mission to make part of my regular routine. 

2. Practising yoga

Taking up yoga is a win-win for your mind and body. Who wouldn’t want a hobby that ticks both boxes? Harvard University researchers have studied the mental benefits of yoga, using MRI scans to compare the brains of practitioners to non-practitioners. It showed that those who practised yoga had a thicker cerebral cortex than the non-practitioners.  This is the area of your brain responsible for information processing. They also had a thicker hippocampus, which is involved in learning and memory and is also said to improve mood.

3. Learning a language

I learned Italian for 10 years through school. Admittedly, outside of remembering how to count and sing Happy Birthday, my most vivid memory of my Italian classes is being first introduced to tiramisu (which fun fact, has been my birthday cake every year since the 6th grade, after I ran home to tell mum all about it). I dropped languages as soon as I could, come Year 10. I assumed it had little value compared to seemingly more serious subjects. Had I understood the benefits more, I might have chosen differently.

Learning a language is one of the most complex mental tasks you can undertake, and it rewards you for your efforts. 

Research by Washington State University has shown that those who learn a second language have increased attention control and have better working memory, and abstract and symbolic representation skills.

I’ve made some small inroads in learning a language again in my more recent adult years, learning some small phrases and words in Serbian - my husband's first language. 

4. Reading regularly 

I will never tire of recommending reading as a high-value hobby. As someone who went from a non-reader to reading 100+ books a year in my 30s, (3 books a week in 2025), I know that if I can start from zero, so can anyone. 

Reading doesn’t just build your knowledge and empower you with ideas to elevate your circumstances. It does much more for your mind, body and mood. 

Due to the concentration needed, University of Sussex research concluded that reading reduces stress by 68%. It outperforms the also highly effective cup of tea, walking and listening to music. The best part is that it takes just six minutes to see results, making it a highly manageable addition to almost anyone’s daily routine. 

Research has also compared the knowledge of TV watchers and readers. Readers are said to have more knowledge and better analytical skills, improving their judgment and problem-solving abilities. Books, magazines and written text also use more unique words than television, improving your vocabulary and communication skills.

Getting lost in a brilliant book isn’t just for loners. While it might seem counterintuitive, reading fiction also builds your social skills and empathy. It creates neurological pathways relating to characters, and these remain after you put the book down. It improves your people skills and emotional intelligence. So, rest easy knowing that you’re improving your relationship skills just by reading your favourite fiction. 

You don’t just need to read in your field of expertise to reap the rewards for your personal brand. As Jobs advocated for connecting the dots, his sentiment is shared by Ash Ali and Hasan Kubba in their book The Unfair Advantage, who say:

“Creativity is largely about training your mind to connect things you learn in one domain to situations that seem completely unrelated. This is known as intersectional or interdisciplinary thinking.” 

Niche knowledge is formed not just in the narrow lens of your field, but in your unique combination of interests. 

5. Walking

Walks aren’t just a workout for your body; they do wonders for your mind, too.  A 2014 Stanford University study showed the benefits of walking for creativity and problem-solving. Researchers found creativity increased by 60% when compared to sitting. Results for creativity were observed for walks just 5-16 minutes long. This worked for walks both indoors and outdoors, so whether you’re hiking mountains, strolling the streets or walking your treadmill, you can enhance your creative edge with regular walking. 

The University of Sussex's research on reading also showed walking contributed to a 42% reduction in stress. It releases endorphins such as dopamine and builds empathy. It also moves your brain wave frequency from the beta region to the high theta range. This is the same frequency entered during meditation.

Steve Jobs was known for his love of walks. He walked to work through his ideas and decisions and regularly held walking meetings. For me personally, it was when I started walking regularly that I found the best way to organise my ideas. It’s always where all the pieces start to fall into place. 

6. Practising a craft

An idea that really resonated with me from Cal Newport’s book, Digital Minimalism, is the concept of low-value downtime versus high-value leisure time. With this mindset, passive consumption (think social media scrolling and television watching) can be replaced with high-value alternatives. I personally love the attention Newport pays to craftsmanship and creating things - something our ancestors seemed to spend much more time on. Whether your craft is cooking, painting, drawing, sewing, gardening, woodwork or whatever your creative heart desires, consider the value of high-value downtime. 

Galileo demonstrates the perhaps unattended outcomes of having a craft for your work. When he made the remarkable discovery of mountains on the moon, it wasn’t simply his telescope that illuminated this for him - It didn’t have the magnifying power. Instead, he recognised the zig-zag pattern that separated the light and dark areas of the moon. Galileo had artistic training in a technique called chiaroscuro. It focuses on light and shade.

7. Journalling 

If you follow my content, you might know that journalling through the Morning Pages method is my favourite new addition to my daily routine. It’s perhaps been the single biggest factor in my mental clarity and mood since introducing regular reading and walking into my life. The research supports this sentiment. University of Texas found that expressive writing boosts mental clarity, emotional regulation and decision-making. It helps you process ideas, patterns and emotions that often sit just below conscious awareness.

From dull to multi-dimensional

As the proverb goes: 

“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”

This generally means a person who doesn’t take time off from work becomes both bored and boring. When it comes to your business, your career or social life, do you want to be remembered as a boring personal brand? If not, spend more time living your best life of leisure. For more of what this focus on your personal life can do for your professional personal brand, see my earlier blog, How Hobbies Can Work for Your Personal Brand.