Emotional Resilience: 5 Ways to Wellbeing – Learn New Skills

Throughout this month we are going to focus on emotional resilience using the Five Ways to Wellbeing. This week as we approach the New Year we are focusing on “Learn New Skills”.

This week’s topic is all about trying new things and finding activities and hobbies that make us feel happy. What would you like to try next year?

Why is it important?

Sometimes we feel unmotivated and unable to try new things, or worried that if we start learning something new, we might not be very good at it. But we all need time to take a break, or find a nice distraction from the stresses in our lives.

Researchers found that learning new skills makes us happier and healthier by helping to:

• Improve our self-confidence and self-esteem
• Give us sense of purpose
• Connect us with other people

So, by challenging ourselves to learn new things (even if we might not be very good at them at first), we actually feel better about ourselves, and discover activities which can help us overcome the boredom or loneliness.

Where to start?

There are so many activities and hobbies out there to for you to try – from photography to football, baking to ballroom dancing!

You might already have a hobby or interest that you enjoy, but there is always room for learning. Could you keep building new skills in your hobby? Or could you pick a completely new hobby to try?

Is there something you would love to try? A skill you would love to learn? You do not always need to buy new stuff or go out to different places to be able to learn something new. For instance, activities like:

• Singing
• Meditating
• Dancing
• Yoga

Learn New Things to help you through difficult times:

• Help others – Build new skills to help people in your family or community. You could do some DIY or cooking at home, volunteer, or write and publish a blog about how you are feeling to reach out to other people who might be feeling the same. When we help other people feel good, it helps us feel good too. Working towards a good cause will also help keep your mind busy, giving your brain a break from any worries or stress you might have.
• Learn with others – If you are feeling lonely, why not connect with others and learn together, using technology. Exercise, start a book club, or make a joint playlist; there are lots of creative ways you can use video calls and other technology to reach out to your friends and family, and try new things together.
• Find calm and relaxing activities – If you are feeling anxious or stressed, give yourself a break from the news and social media, to calm your body and mind. Everyone will have different activities that helps them relax, maybe yoga, or painting or discovering new music.

More to do:

• Swap a skill: Everyone is good at something, maybe baking cakes or taking a great photo. Try something new by asking a friend or family member to teach you one of their skills, and see what you can teach them in return.
• Show off your talent: Challenge your friends or family to learn a new skill in one week.
• Take a trip down memory lane: Is there a hobby you had when you were younger that you really enjoyed? Often we feel like we ‘grow out’ of our old hobbies, but actually lots of them – like doing puzzles, colouring, or making paper airplanes – can be fun whatever age you are!

Need some more inspiration?

Here are some websites for you to check out:

• Check out the 1000s of free recipes for you to try on BBC Good Food.
• Go to the theatre for free (from the comfort of your sofa) thanks to the National Theatre’s streaming service and musical producer Andrew Lloyd Webber’s YouTube channel.
• Still bored? Or need inspiration for an online quiz you are making? TedEd has 100s of videos on many interesting topics.