Hobby "Hump"
Source: Rawpixel (“Free blue crumpled paper ball”)
Hobby “Hump” is a fun alliteration but what is it exactly? It's the plateau in skill level when going from a beginner to an intermediate level when practicing a hobby. Whether you’re struggling with intermediate origami because you’re stuck on a complicated fold, or you don’t feel like you're getting any better with a skill like anatomy or *shiver* color theory… this hump is tricky and frustrating to get over. Sometimes casual hobbyists may give up at this obstacle, but if you’re reading this, I’m guessing you’re probably not willing to give up so easily. I encourage you to keep practicing your hobby while I share a few pointers to help you get over the hobby hump!
1. Fail.
This seems like the last thing you want to hear, but you have to allow yourself to make mistakes in order to continue learning. As a beginner, you probably made plenty of mistakes. For example, the first things I’ve sewn were uneven; they were impractical, but I keep them because they have a beginner’s charm to them. As you progress with your hobby, it becomes less charming to be full of mistakes and starts to be seen as imperfections. This can be discouraging, and sometimes, success feels invalidated or overcome by mistakes. It can seem more acceptable to fail as a beginner because you can chalk it up to “just learning”. What you might not realize is that it's okay to make mistakes at any point in your journey with your hobby. You can keep on learning from messing up. Just because you’re not a beginner anymore doesn’t mean you don’t make mistakes. Experts make mistakes too–they push the boundaries of what they are capable of and the possibilities of whatever their craft is.
If you’re worried about failing because mistakes can be wasteful, you can practice on some inexpensive material. If you draw or do origami like me, use printer paper, or source free paper. Sure mistakes can’t be undone, since even if you go over them, they’ll still be there. But just let the mistakes exist– don’t trash it, keep messing with it, and if you get impatient, set it aside and try again. Progress isn’t about instantly mastering everything about a hobby, or even being good at everything—it’s about persistence and experience. Some of the best breakthroughs come from pushing through frustration and realizing that even mistakes contribute to your improving skills.
2. Try something outside of your comfort zone
When was the last time you ventured outside of your hobby's comfort zone? If you play video games it could involve attempting a new playstyle, a different character or class, or taking a chance in the game. Eventually we reach levels of proficiency where we’re not embarrassing ourselves anymore, but we also stop challenging ourselves too. According to Austin Frakt from The Incidental Economist, “It’s the transition to mindless automation that signals the beginning of the end of our ability to improve”. Almost synonymous with failing, it is uncomfortable but lets you make breakthroughs that you won’t have discovered continuing without it. If you have a creative hobby, stepping outside your comfort zone might mean experimenting with a new medium, trying an unconventional style, or presenting your work in a way you haven’t before. In my own experience, I’ve challenged myself by trying different art styles, such as doing caricatures. It was scary socially as I had to draw in an assembly full of people, and I had to learn different uses of line weight and exaggeration. Through that experience I learned to focus on my drawing skills and page to not get distracted by the environment. Venturing beyond your comfort zone in any hobby—whether it's playing a new genre, or trying a different coding language—can be intimidating but has a learning outcome at the end of it.
You’ll want to challenge biases you have about your hobby. You’ve probably developed preferences for certain aspects of your hobbies, but even things you dislike might still have some positives. Each attempt to explore your hobby offers insights that wouldn't be possible by staying within familiar territory. Even if the outcome isn’t perfect, you can always go back to what you’re familiar with, only it won’t be repetitive–you'll have gained a perspective that you didn’t have before.
3. Deliberate practice
If you’ve learned an instrument, this might be familiar to you in the form of hours spent grinding scales and music theory notebooks. That's because deliberate practice is described as being tedious, frequently carried out without apparent reward, and mainly centred on improving one's own skills rather than enjoyment. Deliberate practice involves identifying weaknesses in a structured and intentional way of improving skills, rather than simply repeating tasks for entertainment and goals for improvement. But you don't have to sacrifice all the fun: reward yourself by doing something you’re comfortable with and enjoy afterwards. After sitting down and drawing a few anatomy studies, I always reward myself with a good bird doodle, which doesn’t necessarily make me better at drawing, but makes the task worthwhile. Deliberate practice is a habit you can incorporate, like drills and exercises that athletes do as part of training. Try practicing tactically, a little bit at a time, and it will be worth it.
Deliberate practice is an entire study in psychology. This study reminded me a lot of the popular debate of the idea of nature vs. nurture, which argues there is an element of inherent “talent” that cannot progress past the intermediate phase without deliberate practice. Deliberate practice, whether applied to pianists, chess players, and others, can significantly advance a casual or intermediate player to a more advanced level. The takeaway is if you’re able to make it past a beginner’s stage, you already have what it takes—you just need to fine-tune elements of your hobby. Musicians, writers, artists, chess players, and gamers all have specific topics, movesets, and things that can be mastered. You have what it takes. Incorporate a bit of deliberate practice and you might be surprised at how much you've improved!
4. Learn from the experts
Taking a step back, taking a break from practicing yourself and absorbing what's around you can be important to skill building too! Whether it's watching a live card game, going to an art museum, or watching something on social media. While this itself can be entertaining, you'll also be able to observe their techniques, decision-making processes, and creative choices that can help you spot new strategies to try out. Even small details—like the way a musician phrases a melody, how an artist uses color, or how a skilled player adapts to challenges, can spark ideas you wouldn't have considered before. You don’t have to start writing fan mail to a famous person—you can find find skilled people with the same hobby in ordinary places! School clubs, social media, and even your local hobby store are great ways to talk to others about your hobby and learn from their experiences. Anyone can have some sort of expertise, whether it be a classmate with a different video game preference or the person in the aisle with great knowledge on the materials. By immersing yourself in work and learning from others, you can start imagining what you want to be able to accomplish.
Learning from experts is supposed to be inspiring, and not degrading, so it's important not to fall into the trap of unhealthy comparison. Experts have spent years—sometimes decades—perfecting their craft, and measuring yourself against them can be discouraging, rather than motivating. They're also not something you should feel the need to become. I admire several artists, but they've chosen their own direction which will be different from what I want to do. Experts also have their own habits and instincts that they struggle to explain, or their methods might not suit you. Use their work as a source of ideas, not rigid rules to follow. Again, the goal isn’t to become them, but to take what resonates with you and see that there are so many possibilities that await you as you work to get out of your skill plateau.
The performance plateau is not forever. It requires a gradual climb, and breaking out of one is worth it because it reignites your enjoyment and sense of progress. As someone with many hobbies and a passion for all of them, I think it's always worth it to work towards them because they provide growth that isn’t defined by a grade or a timed goal. Investing some effort in overcoming a skill plateau can make your hobby more rewarding, especially since you'll never know what it could have turned into if you give up.