One of the most strenuous things about work is that you are always expected to be at the top of your game. So it is a relief when you finally have some downtime and can just relax pursuing whatever interests you. And yet, so many people will often struggle in their leisure activity and ultimately give up on it because they are not good at it.

Rachel Feintzeig of The Wall Street Journal essentially asks, who cares? You spend most of your waking hours under pressure to perform well, so why would you want to stress yourself further by self-imposing further pressure?

Feintzeig argues that, if anything, the freedom to be bad at something is part of the enjoyment of downtime. Whether that means learning how to play an instrument, getting involved in an outdoor sport, or learning how to cook.

You might go into it with the mindset that the goal is to get good enough to do a certain difficult task. But if you prove unskilled in whatever activity you choose, you should not let that deter you from continuing if you still enjoy the process.

As Feintzeig explains, tons of people already battle with incessant feelings of inadequacy. Maybe you are afraid you are not measuring up to your boss’s expectations and won’t advance in the company.

But carrying that mindset into your free time can be outright unhealthy. It puts your worth in the hands of other people’s validation. And it embraces a perspective that nothing you do is valuable unless it is productive. Pressuring yourself like that to be on all the time is a recipe for burnout.

To be good at something typically requires a lot of time and money. Behind the success stories, you see people who struggled to pay their bills to attain their level of aptitude. It might be people who became so emotionally exhausted that they developed substance abuse problems.

There is always a cost to being good, and you have to decide if it is really worth it to pay that toll.

Those who have embraced just doing what they enjoy and being okay if they are bad at it describe it as a relief.

For more food for thought on why indulging in activities you are bad at is okay, read The Wall Street Journal story here.

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Tyra Weitman-Soet explains why you have to be bad at something to get good at it.

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