High-Value Hobbies Worth Having in 2025 for Your Personal Brand and Personal Life
All work and no play makes your personal brand a dull bore. Hobbies can boost your brain, body and well-being. The healthiest personal brand starts with the person you are off-stage and behind the scenes.
In the last year, I’ve noticed one topic start to dominate discussions among my friends and family more than ever—hobbies. People are starting new ones, restarting old hobbies, or looking for inspiration. I’ve become increasingly more passionate about advocating for this topic. I shared many of the reasons why I think hobbies are so imperative in my previous blog on How Hobbies Can Work for Your Personal Brand (6 tips).
To summarise my earlier advocacy, hobbies make you a multi-dimensional person. On a personal level, it broadens the breadth of your experiences. Professionally for your personal brand, it elevates your interdisciplinary thinking and ability to come up with non-linear solutions to problems.
Steve Jobs famously said:
“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.”
As Michael Hyatt highlights in his book Free to Focus, while we celebrate the habits of highly effective people, what about their hobbies?
Psychiatrist Stuart Brown says, “Work does not work without play.”
Michael Hyatt, in Free to Focus, highlights the three key stages you have:
Front stage: When you’re performing visibly. This is usually what others actually see.
Backstage: What 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. But, even if you never share the behind-the-scenes hobbies of your personal brand publicly, science shows that well-picked hobbies can have a wonderful impact on your mind.
Adam Grant, in his book Originals, also champions the importance of high-value hobbies. 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 the benefits of these hobby ideas for you in 2025:
1. Reading
As someone who went from a non-reader to reading 100 books a year, I will never tire of recommending the value of this hobby. I believe the most powerful way to advance your circumstances is through knowledge. But, reading proves to have more value than that too.
Due to the concentration level needed, University of Sussex research concluded that reading reduces stress by 68%. Even outperforming the also highly effective cup of tea, walking and listening to music. The best part is that it takes only six minutes to see results, making it a 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 judgement and problem-solving skills. Books, magazines and written text also use more unique words than television, improving your vocabulary and communication skills.
While it might seem counter-intuitive, reading fiction, in particular, also builds your social skills and empathy. It creates neurological pathways relating to characters. These remain after you put the book down. It improves your people skills and emotional intelligence. So, you can power your personal brand’s relationship skills just by reading your favourite fiction.
2. Walking
You don’t have to just see your walks as a workout for your body. They can be a workout for your mind, too. During the week, I walk twice daily. For me, it gives me a chance to mentally upload my learning, problem-solve and listen to my intuition.
While the physical benefits of walking are well understood, the mental benefits are worth celebrating 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, with a tiny bit of time per day, you can supercharge your personal brand’s creative edge.
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 helps build empathy. It also moves your brain wave frequency from the beta region to the high theta range - the same frequency entered during meditation.
3. Learning an instrument
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.
Research has shown that playing an instrument changes your brain’s structure. It increases 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.
4. Learning a language
Learning a language is one of the most complex mental tasks you can undertake. But its benefits are worth exploring. Research by Washington State University showed those who learn a second language have increased attention control, better working memory and better abstract and symbolic representation skills. So, give your personal brand an extra edge by learning a language in your downtime.
I am currently learning a second language - my husband’s first language - Serbian. As part of my daily routine, I learn one new word or phrase every day.
5. Yoga
There are physical and mental benefits of yoga. Harvard University research used MRI scans and brain imaging techniques on practitioners and non-practitioners of yoga. It showed that those who practised the exercise regularly had a thicker cerebral cortex (responsible for information processing) and hippocampus (involved in learning and memory), compared with non-practitioners. It is also said to improve mood.
I once had my yoga hobby do the hard work of my personal brand’s reputation for me. A colleague relayed a conversation about me among our peers. The participants concluded that I must be able to remain calm in stressful situations because I practise yoga daily. As they say, your personal brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room, so I’m thrilled at the unexcepted results of a simple yoga hobby!
6. Have a craft
Cal Newport, in his book Digital Minimalism, encourages converting your low-value ‘downtime' into high-value leisure time. With this mindset, passive consumption can instead be replaced with high-value alternatives, with a particular focus on craftsmanship - creating things. This is much like our ancestors first did long ago - in what can often feel like slowly dying crafts.
What is your version of high-value downtime? Your craft? Maybe it’s cooking, gardening, drawing, painting, writing, sewing, or woodwork. Or moving with our modern era, maybe it’s a chance to master a new technology. To create content on a digital platform, or practise photography or videography. Make whatever your high-value heart desires a part of your daily routine.
If you’re thinking of starting a new hobby in 2025, but aren’t sure if you can prioritise it, think again. Because the power of your personal brand and professional goals may actually lie in what you do personally.
