MM: Is FOMO Crushing Your Dreams?

Welcome to FOMO addicts anonymous.

FOMO, as it is fondly referred to, has taken hold of daily lives, constantly making us unsatisfied with our own circumstances and doubt our decisions thus far. Triggered most commonly by social media, many blame FOMO on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc., but a deeper look will reveal a different, more concerning root to the problem: A society filled with discontent people.

Before we all curse Alexander Gram Bell for driving us to FOMO with his invention, let’s take a step back and look at the bigger picture here. It seems like more and more of us have issues with being content with where we are in life. We are constantly running through “what could have beens” and “what ifs” in our mind, imagining a better, more impressive life for ourselves. So when we see or hear of someone who may seemingly “have it better” than ourselves, the little FOMO devil pops onto our shoulder, whispering self-doubt into our battered ears.

But is FOMO all bad? We should all be nodding our heads in agreement, but if we are being honest, many of us get FOMO mixed up with other healthy motivating factors. All too often, we use built up resentment as fuel to outdo our social media foes– running ourselves dry trying to surpass those who threaten our contentment. The problem here lies in the fact that being motivated by FOMO leaves us chasing the shadows of a perfectly fabricated life down a path that is being created by everyone else’s expectation. This fear feeds on our insecurities and leads us to a life not filled with passion and ambition, but of doubt and exhaustion.

So stop. Easier said than done, right? But what would happen if we stopped letting others dictate the status of our success and crafted our own ambition for our lives? What if we were motivated by the circumstances we are in rather than the ones we wish we could be in? A sneaking suspicion tells me that we would actually accomplish a lot more and we would see a shift towards a more meaningfully led life. So to get you started, here are three ways to kick out the little FOMO devil and rest in your own inspired circumstances.

Write out your Goals. Take time to think of where you want to be and why, and then put your pen to paper and write. Giving yourself a visual of where you want to go will give you a little push in the right direction. Haven’t ever thought big-pictures dreams? Let us help, and check out our blog post on goal-setting.

Be Present in the World You Are In. But first, realize that you will never really live through the screen of any device. Getting unplugged is the first step to loosening the grip of FOMO and the entanglement of comparison and discontentment. We’re not saying you should go and delete all your social accounts, but taking the time to look up now and then will do you some good.

Change Your Perspective. Appreciate the circumstances you are actually in– anyone will tell you how quickly those “nondescript and boring” days will pass you by. Realize now that they are not just a string of days, but your life! So do some investing in the here and now, it’s one that will be sure to pay off.