The other day, I was browsing through one of my social media feeds and saw a picture that read “SAY NO TO #FOMO”. Being the curious person that I am, I just had to find out what this #FOMO is…
To my surprise, it actually meant “THE FEAR OF MISSING OUT”. It made me laugh a little, just because I was so eager to know what it stands for, in case I was missing out on something important. For a while after finding out what FOMO meant, it really didn’t make a huge impact in my life, until recently when I discovered how much time I’m actually wasting on social media, because of it.
You see, FOMO is not only bad for your health, but it’s also bad for your self-esteem. Healthwise FOMO can lead to added anxiety and stress because you are constantly worried that something is happening and you will be left out. On the other hand, with self-esteem wise you see all these awesome things everyone else is doing or how happy people are and can fall into a trap of self-pity and self-loathing.
PLUS, let’s be honest, SOCIAL MEDIA wastes precious time, which we could have spent on working towards reaching our dreams and goals.
That’s what brought me to today’s post, after thinking about this for a while, I have come to the conclusion that FOMO is BAD and we need to make an active decision in our lives to overcome it, in order to reach our goals and ultimately our wildest dreams.
// 5 WAYS TO OVERCOME FOMO {FEAR OF MISSING OUT} //
# 1 – Create a vision/dream board
Take a while to think of all your dreams and goals. Do you maybe want to open a bakery? Become a race car driver? Be a worship leader? Travel the world? Wow, this list could go on and on. Write all your dreams and big goals on a piece of paper.
Take a larger paper and create a visually stimulating dream board. Be as creative as you can, remember this must be one of your motivators to overcome FOMO. When you are done, place your dream/vision board somewhere that you can see daily.
Before going on to social media (to see everybody else live their dreams), look at your vision/dream board and decide on one action you can take today to get closer to one of your dreams. And take it…
#2 – Identify your weaknesses
The first step to solving any problem is to admit that you have a problem. As I have mentioned above, it took me quite a while to figure out that I have FOMO. I am constantly on social media checking out what everybody is up to, liking and commenting on their posts and when I am not on social media, I am constantly finding myself thinking about social media and what I have been missing. Some days I spend up to an hour or more just scrolling through all my accounts. A WHOLE HOUR!!
Think of what I could have accomplished in an hour. One of my greatest weaknesses would include scrolling through Facebook. What is yours? Write it down and also, identify why they are weaknesses.
#3 – Set clear boundaries for yourself
This is very important, now that you know your weaknesses and the areas that you struggle with the most. Create a realistic plan of action with clear boundaries around how you will manage your social media accounts and interactions.
For example, I have committed myself to only spending time on social media for 10 minutes in the morning and then 15 minutes at night, except if I have to use it for blog promotion. In order to keep myself in check, I use a timer and when the time is up, I close everything and start focussing on my work and family. This is not always perfect, but I do my best to stay within that time frame. Give it a try!!
#4 – Declutter your social media feeds
The more information we receive, the more information we want to consume. Decluttering our social media feeds, to only see what is really important to us, can make a significant difference in the way we consume information.
Every time I go through one of my feeds and I see something that I don’t like, I would unfollow that page or person. In that way, I am only seeing the things that I truly want to see, making more time for me to focus on my goals and dreams.
#5 – Start living your life to the fullest
The moment we stop swooning over what everybody else is doing and start to actually live our own lives to the fullest, that’s the moment you would realize how much this wonderful world has to offer. Read more, explore more, exercise more, learn how to cook healthy meals, spend time with your family, do something creative and become the person that you were meant to be. Not hiding behind the walls of social media and living in fear, that you will miss out on something important.
In conclusion, don’t let FOMO rule your life. You were meant for something great. Things will happen, people will do awesome stuff, and celebrations will take place, but remember the more time you spend involved in someone else’s dreams, the less time you have to work on your own. Make your time count…
I would love to hear from you, do you have any FOMO experiences?
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