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A hobby should be something you can do for yourself. Something you get pleasure / relaxation / a welcomed distraction. out of doing.

If you take up painting (art, not houses) you should know you will never be Rembrandt and it should not keep you from painting (Unless painting houses is your hobby)

With things like (marathon) running, hiking, it is easy to meassure Objective progress and qutie hard to moneteize.

If you are a programmer all day, and your hobby is programming I dont think that is ideal.

I have been there myself a bit earier in life and regret that now.

Thers is soo much to see, experience, learn outside of computers.

Plus doing something else will help your brain relax, or at least not running the exact same parts as when you are at work, that is in itself a valuabe thing. Giving your brain something different to chew on, connect new paths, all good.

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With things like (marathon) running, hiking, it is easy to meassure Objective progress and qutie hard to moneteize.

Well, no. You can do sooo much here. Log your hike, provide coordinates of off-the-beaten-track routes and sites, provide info on trail conditions, run team events, gear reviews, first aid courses...

Also, who said I can't be the next Rembrandt? Kandinsky is only one of many proofs that that second sentence of yours is off the mark.

I've actually just started work on making piste maps better for snowboarders. Making bank off that would be ace, if not well OK then. Being defeatist because the probability of failure is bigger than success is defeatist, no?

But that is not running, hiking, or snowboarding. What you are talking about is making maps and writing reviews. They are related, but are not the thing the enthusiast enjoys.

They were ideas of the top of my head. And what if he/she DOES enjoy that aspect? I'm a snowboarder and love it. The point is to have an open mind. Like it? Great. If not, also great, no?

In the Norwegian Lotto system your chances of winning are: 1:5,4 million. Some people win the lottery.

Is it being defeatist to not buy a lottery ticket? or 10? or 100?

Or can you say that the chances of winning are so remote that you dont want to spend money on buying tickets?

The chances someone who dedicates their entire life, all their academic efforts, all the apprenticeships possible, giving it their all, the chances that person will become the next Rembradt is far less than winning a lottery ticket.

If you pick up a brush for the first time in your 30s, the chances are much lower.

So yes, it is possible. But the probability is near zero.

What I was saying was find a hobby that you can get some enjoyment out of.

If in your 30s: You pick up a paintbrush becasue you know you will be the next Rembradt, or You learn to drive a stick shift knowing you will become the biggest Formula1 Champion ever. or Start reading "An Idiots guide to Basic Physics" knowing you will far exceeed Einstein

Chances are you won't really enjoy it that much.

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