What’s The Difference Between A Hobby And An Interest?

woman refinishing chair, are interests and hobbies the same thing

There are twenty-four hours in a day. We dedicate a few of those to sleep and some to work, but we define ourselves by the remaining few hours.

Our interests and hobbies are active expressions of our personalities, allowing us to experiment and discover ourselves through the things we love.

However, there is a difference between a hobby and interest, and both play a considerable role in our happiness.

Whether you're writing a resume, trying to find what piques your curiosity, or just in the market for a fun way to spend your time, it's good to be aware of the difference.

We’ve pulled together some examples of special interests and hobbies to both illustrate the difference between them and spark your creativity.

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The Ultimate New Year’s Resolution Idea List And Success Plan

Do you feel excited or intimidated when you think about making New Year's resolutions?

Maybe you feel a little bit of both — excited at the possibility of success and intimidated about the potential for failure.

Most of us do give up on our resolutions within weeks of setting them. We begin with bang and end with a whimper, once again feeling like we don't have the “right stuff” to follow through on our new year's resolutions.

If it makes you feel better, you aren't alone. Setting goals and developing new habits is hard if you don't know what you're doing. Most of us don't know how to approach goal-setting and habit creation in a way that fosters success.

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11 Habits Of Wildly Successful People


The truth is, a large part of what we accomplish in life is governed by our habits.

Habits can lead us to think and act in specific patterns, as they rewire our brains with neural pathways that make the behaviors almost automatic.

Because our habits are so powerful, it is important to pay close attention to the ones that have the biggest impact.

While luck and genetics play a role in your long-term success, there are certain learnable behaviors that will make you more likely to be successful in all your endeavors.

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Delayed Gratification: How To Harness It To Catapult Your Success


Are you familiar with the marshmallow experiment?

This is the one where researchers bring children into a private room, one by one, sit them down, and put a marshmallow on the table in front of them.

The researcher then offers a deal to the child. He tells the child that he is leaving the room, and if the child doesn't touch the marshmallow while he's gone, then the child will get a second marshmallow.

However, if the child eats the first marshmallow while the researcher is gone, he or she will not get another marshmallow.

Essentially, the child has the choice of having one treat immediately or two treats in the future.

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How To Stay Healthy: 10 Micro Habits To Practice Daily

how to stay healthy

When I was growing up, there was a dearth of reliable information on making healthy lifestyle choices.

If this information was available, it certainly didn't hit the mainstream media, which at the time included the three major TV networks and the local newspaper. Everything we learned about healthy habits came from the family doctor or from health class in school.

School was where they served us “chicken fried” steak and bright pink hot dogs.

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Create Your Morning Routine With Habit Stacking

morning routine

Most of my adult life, I haven't been a “morning person.” If I could sleep late and begin my day slowly, I would. But most of the time I couldn't.

Although I wasn't a morning person, I was (and am) a responsible person, so if school, work, children, or any other pressing situation required I get up early, I would drag myself out of bed and get going. And that was most days.

Now my children are grown, and I work from home, so I can get up and start my day any time I wish. But ironically, I now enjoy getting up early.

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12 Proven Habits Of Happy People

habits of happy people

When I was in my twenties, I wrote a happiness list. I remember clearly writing the list and believing once I attained those things, I would feel content and free to enjoy life.

I'm embarrassed to tell you everything I put on the list.

It seems so materialistic to me now.

But let's just say it included a particular type of car, a certain sized house, the decor to fill the rooms of the house, and other stuff I believed reflected success and happiness.

As time went on, I was able to check off many of the items on my list.

For a short while, the attainment of one of these items brought me happiness.

But over time, the shine and sparkle wore off, and I grew bored and restless again. I kept repeating this pattern, moving the bar of happiness farther and farther out in hopes that some “thing” or success would fulfill my longing.

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How To Break Bad Habits By Forming Good Ones

Break bad habits

Bad habits creep up on us.

One day we smoke that first cigarette, eat that first bag of Cheetos, or discover how easy it is to charge things on a credit card.

Before you know it, that one decision has mushroomed into big, bad habit. We become physically or mentally addicted to substances, food, spending, nail biting, and any number of actions that don't reflect our best selves.

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