One of my biggest goals for 2019 was to revisit the activities that I use to love in my younger days.

I have this theory that you always love the activities that you’ve enjoyed growing up. My definition of activity is past times that help increase your wealth, health, and overall well being. I’m sure there are many counters against this, but hear me out!

I loved playing chess as a kid. In elementary school, I use to attend this program called Chess Masters, where they teach you the nuances of the game. I couldn’t explain it or intellectualize it at the time, but I loved the strategy and thinking required to get a checkmate. In fact, one of my life mottoes is actually something I learned from chess, “always stay two steps ahead.”

So how did I bring back chess? This past year, I entered a tournament and won 3 out of 7 games!! I couldn’t believe it when I got my first checkmate! On the flip side, I also got beat bad by this lawyer.

Regardless, I now play chess everyday, and it’s a core piece of my everyday life. I’ll probably write a whole blog post on what’s this game has taught me about life.

The other activity that I use to love was playing Super Smash Bro on Nintendo 64. My college roommates and I played this game religiously. We played before class, after class, during class (no comment on this last one :))

It didn’t stop there.

Once I graduated college, I moved to San Francisco and continued the ritual with my new roommates on the Wii U. There’s nothing quite like playing some “Smash” after a long day of work.

For the last year, I stopped playing altogether. I moved to a new apartment and haven’t touched “Smash” in over a year. It’s not that I was unhappy without it. That’s just it, sometimes there will be activities in life that don’t really bring your happiness down, but give you a slight increase in joy and happiness when you do partake.

Consistent with my goal for this year, I bought an N64 and Super Smash Bros and now play it once a day. The game seriously never gets old.

The third activity that I brought back into my life is the game of basketball. This sport is by far the most critical activity I brought back into my weekly routine. I feel lethargic physically if I don’t play basketball once a week.

During the last two years, there was a 6-7 month gap where I stopped playing altogether. There was no real reason. I could have prioritized it higher, but simply didn’t.

This past year, I did a couple of things to ensure that I continue to play basketball. I signed up for a league, so I’m committed to playing at least once a week and hired a full-on basketball coach. He’s an ex-professional player and an excellent mentor to help me take my game to the next level.

I’ve been playing basketball since I was six years old and so know a great deal about the fundamentals already. However, after working with my coach, I realized that I still have a lot to learn. He sees the game at a much higher level and instilled a whole new dimension for the game.

It feels fantastic bringing back some of the favorite activities growing up as a kid. It’s truly the little things that count. These activities bring me so much joy, and I must give it the energy they deserve. These activities never get old. They evolve as I evolve. New depths and details emerge as you start to explore what you truly love.

I feel that human beings are consistent. We will never stop loving the things we did growing up. We just tend to have less time to do them.

I urge you all to revisit your upbringing and ask yourself what activities you truly loved. What did you love to do in high school, college, 20s, 30s, etc. and do them one more time. Give it the energy it deserves. You won’t regret it.