Missing Out?
FOMO or the Fear-Of-Missing-Out is a real phenomenon that was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2013. It is an anxious feeling you get when you feel other people might be having a good time without you. It becomes a “pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences while one is absent”. Some consider FOMO as a psychological process that has an underlying issue on social media use.
Considered as a stressor FOMO can affect just about anyone as it is a source of anxiety as most desires to stay continually connected with what others are doing. It creates a sentiment of regret as one fails to engaged socially. FOMO is negatively impacts one’s mental health and well-being.
FOMO can happen when you realize that you missed a conversation or a significant event or even being unable to discover a new restaurant.
Being overwhelmed by the amount of information needed to stay up-to-date results in a feeling of relative deprivation and dissatisfaction. This creates a negative social and emotional experience and as a consequence creates a negative mood while lowering life satisfaction and self-esteem.
FOMO-sufferers has the uncontrollable urge to constantly check on social media posts again and again. Just so they don’t feel out of the loop and don’t feel left out.
So How Do We Break the Vicious Cycle and Minimize FOMO?
The need to curb FOMO is something we need to work on as studies have shown that FOMO can stem from unhappiness and life dissatisfaction. We need to understand where the problem lies to be able to alleviate feelings of FOMO.
#1 Develop an Attitude of Gratitude
Never focus on what you lack and focus on what you have. As much as possible do not read on posts of people who brag so much about what they have because it creates a feeling of deficiency in you. Try blocking people who are not supportive of you and surely this will lift your spirit.
#2 Join Communities or Groups Who Enjoy Similar Interests
Change your feed and fill it with those that can trigger happy responses. Joining groups or communities which has similar interests can help you enjoy your moment checking on your social media feed. Identifying what makes you happy minimizes the feeling of FOMO.
#3 Keep a Personal Journal
As everyone posts almost everything on the social media, how about keeping some to yourself through a personal journal? Photos, memories and experiences can be kept on a journal or a paper until you start shifting from posting public to posting on a personal journal.It is common to post on social media to keep a record of the fun things you do.
#4 Root for Private Approvals and Affirmation
Focus on private appreciation of the things that make your life great. Start getting out of the social media cycle and divert your attention to getting happiness from what you do and what you have right here, right now.
#5 Create Real Connections
Try to be more logical to understand as well as appreciate that real connections are not found on the social media. Greater connection is established through belongingness. You need to feel loved, appreciated and affirmed but this is not derived from your thousands of online followers.How about making plans with some of your old, good friends or maybe plan a trip or even a tea party? Intimate connections are great connections that foster emotional satisfaction to the mind and spirit.
The Takeaway!
Everyone feels a certain degree of FOMO at a certain point in their life. This may either happen online or otherwise. But what isimportant is to understand that happiness comes from within us and it is NOT something that we derive from external things. The anxiety that we feel from “missing out” on anything is just a creation of our mind based on how we compare ourselves from others.
Remember you don’t need to compete with anyone as you are uniquely different from all others. The key is happiness with what you have and soon you will attract positivity in your life!
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