Stuck in a Novelty loop

You certainly know the feeling of excitement when trying a new coffee shop or a restaurant recommended by a friend, or when testing your adrenaline limits with something daring, like bungee jumping. Or maybe you’re thrilled by a new hobby—something crafty or artistic, like woodworking or painting—or by the challenge of picking up a skill, such as programming or digital marketing, both of which are so popular these days. Each of these endeavors brings a surge of energy and enthusiasm, perhaps mixed with a bit of self-doubt or anxiety. But we brush those doubts aside and dive in.

We picture the end results we’ve dreamed of creating, with that mental image acting as a kind of sun on the horizon, pulling us forward. Determined, we set out to put in those much-needed practice hours. We begin with the basics, learning fundamental techniques and practicing the most elementary exercises. With each small project we finish, we improve a little more, and our goal feels closer, almost within reach.

If we keep going, that is.

Well, there are two types of people, and regardless of the talent involved, the outcomes of these two approaches are always the same. The first type starts a new hobby, gets excited, and sets a specific goal to reach along with a timeframe. It doesn’t matter if the timeframe and goal change a bit along the way; after all, we don’t know how hard it will be anyway. Just having something we want to achieve with our newly acquired skills is a strong anchor in itself. And then comes the grind. Whether they work daily or a couple of times a week, the important part is consistency. Just keep going, improve little by little, and over time, get closer to your goal. They might not see the results after days or weeks; sometimes even a few months are not enough, but you can clearly see when someone has practiced for a year or two. It’s as if they returned from a long adventure changed—equipped with new skills. Not only have they reached their goal, but they are now setting goals they couldn’t even picture before. With new skills and knowledge comes a better vision, and a vast universe of possibilities unfolds before them like the plains of the steppe.

And then there is the other type—and I include myself in this group as well. We dive right in, full of excitement and ambition. We burn with passion for this new endeavor, this novel experience, and we are hooked! For a while. But then comes a week, a month, and we are nowhere close to the goal we envisioned for ourselves. We find ourselves thinking things like, “I wanted to make a simple game, but now I’m stuck at a login screen!” or “My wooden gnome looks like a blurred character from SpongeBob!” Our confidence rapidly plummets; we start slacking off, and eventually, we give up on our dream and bury the thought of pursuing it deep in our minds.

Over the years, my mind has become a graveyard of hobbies—tried but ultimately discarded. I’ve attempted many things and mostly failed to stick with them long enough to see results. Trust me, I tried a lot. I’ve noticed that everyone who kept going eventually made significant progress; regardless of talent or lack thereof, you simply cannot get worse than when you start practicing. Before learning the truth of this simple sentence—“If you stick with it, you’ll get better at it”—I kept repeating the same mistakes for years, not fully understanding what was wrong. I had barely any guidance, and it took me longer than I’d like to figure it out.

I could give you a tour and show you all the things now collecting dust in various places around my apartment—testaments to my failure to stick with my hobbies. Do you like music? Me too—and there lies a guitar, a few spare strings, and a tuning fork. Oh, and that? That was my mini lab when I tried dabbling in electronic music. Please ignore all the software on my PC; it’s not collecting dust per se, but I don’t think I’ve clicked that icon in over a year.

“What am I doing with my life? I’ve tried so many things, but nothing seems to stick.” Do you find that relatable? Yeah, I know. But after so many attempts and even more failures, when I thought I was at the end of my seemingly endless list of interests, I finally felt like something had stuck. I still wasn’t doing it regularly, but my mind kept drifting back to it.

What was it, you ask? Well, writing. And here we are; I’m putting words on paper—or, in this case, on a screen. It wasn’t the only hobby I started pursuing, but it was the one that continually reminded me of its existence, and it was actually one of the first hobbies I explored.

So, no matter how many times we fail at something, remember that it will be worth it in the end; it will simply take a little while before you see the results. We can get easily distracted nowadays, and keeping at something without immediate results is often frustrating. We want to showcase the results of our hard work, but in the end, whether it makes you happy on its own or you want to proudly present it to others, it will be worth it.

Thank you for reading—and see you next time!