The global market for self-development and related sectors is massive.  You only have to walk into a bookshop and see the size of the self-help and self-development section to understand this. There’s also the increased prominence of people performing roles such as “life coach” and various other ventures as people embark on journeys with the aim of making themselves better.

The thing about all of this is that it is often wholly unnecessary. There is nothing wrong with reading the latest self-help fad book or spending your money on an hour with someone who can help to focus your mind, but first you should look at the types of hobbies that could aid your self-development.

Learning to play an instrument is the perfect example of such a hobby. How will doing this boost your self-development no matter your age?

Increased Memory Capacity

Learning a musical instrument increases your brain’s ability to remember things. Do you ever find yourself irritated at the shops because you never write a list but can’t remember the thing you vowed not to forget? Are your children always asking you to sign letters for school or an activity club, and you say to leave them on the side and forget to do it? Or are you simply rubbish at remembering the names of people you’ve just met or can’t even recall your own phone number?

Whatever the state of your memory, learning an instrument will help to make it better, so long as you remember to play it!

Better Problem Solving and Perseverance

Patience is a virtue that many of us would like to have more of. However, hands up everyone who knows that as soon as they face a problem in life they simply move onto something else.

There is probably a few of you, and if you’d like to be more “in your face” when it comes to problem solving, an instrument could be the thing you need. You see, you never become good at playing if you don’t spend time getting over the awkward move from one note to the next, or spend time practicing in slow motion before upping the speed and doing it in real time. This will soon filter into every aspect of your life. Increased capability and desire to persevere with problem solving is a particularly powerful benefit in younger people.

You Learn About the Past

For all that the music press occasionally talks about how a certain style is new or innovative, the reality of music is that everything is born out of something that has come before. When you start learning an instrument, you are immediately inspired to start asking who made it famous and how they played. For many people this actually inspires them to learn, before they then go away and broaden their horizons even more.

When you immerse yourself in music you expose yourself to such a rich vein of history and culture. This is why you see many people who are passionate about music and spend little time interested in anything else.

Learning an instrument is a huge self-development opportunity, and one you should be looking to take advantage of.