5 Practical Ways to Conquer FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out)

FOMO is an acronym for Fear Of Missing Out. It is a real fear and a relatively new term that reflects our desire to be everywhere and do everything. In other words, we want to stay relevant and up-to-date with everything. However, in a world with too many options, it is simply not possible to do everything because there are simply too many things to do.

For example, on any given evening, I have a choice between a thousand restaurants I could go to for dinner and a similar amount of activities I can do all around town, often with several people calling me at the same time asking me to do something different. This means that whether I want to or not, there are a host of decisions that conflict with one another, and I will miss out on something.

Furthermore, FOMO is more than just a theoretical thinking exercise, as I discussed it with several friends and clients who were saddened and distressed by the fact that they are not able to do everything and stay up-to-date with everything, being afraid of missing out.

It is for this reason that I wrote this article, to provide a definitive answer on how to deal with FOMO, and hopefully it will help some people overcome the negative fear of missing out.

1. Consider the Cost of Opportunity

I live in one of the biggest and most vibrant cities in the world, and on a daily basis, I have a swarm of interesting things happening all around town, not to mention all the other places I can go, be they physical or online. Even to write this article about FOMO, I had to say “no” to other articles, at least for the time being, meaning there is a cost of opportunity to doing virtually anything in life.

However, besides time, we also have other important resources we need to consider, such as money and energy. For example, I often get tired from my busy life, so despite wanting to go to a certain place, I just didn’t have the energy to do so. Additionally, I don’t have an infinite bank account, so I have to be mindful of this limited resource when making my decisions.

In this way, not all choices are equal in their importance to us, and some will simply weigh more than others. For example, I don’t like to drink alcohol, but I do like fresh juice. In this example, it is clear that I would choose fresh juice over alcohol despite the fact that I could potentially be missing out on the opportunity to drink alcohol.

Similarly, at work, there are always a million things I could do, but not all of them will bring the same level of output, so it’s natural that I will focus my effort on the most significant things, discarding as a result a host of tasks I could potentially be doing.

As such, I carefully choose people I want to associate myself with, as not everyone will be interesting and significant to me. After all, if I speak to a certain person or do a particular task, it will come at the cost of doing something else. Thus, it becomes a simple mathematical formula guiding me on where to put my effort into certain things and to leave others behind.

To this end, today I have an extensive to-do list full of ideas, prioritized by their importance. I choose what I want to focus on and in turn what I will miss out on. If I choose something, I know I made my choice and make peace with not doing something else, as I am just one person and can only do so much. Consequently, I choose not to have a fear of missing out.

2. Always Do Your Best

Secondly, it is always important to do our best at any given moment in our lives, as by doing our best, we eliminate the fear of missing out. This doesn’t mean that we will accomplish everything we desire, but it ensures that we have given our best effort towards reaching that outcome.

Here, it is important to remember that our best will vary each day based on how we are feeling and what we are doing, so we should be content with our efforts, regardless of how much or little we achieve on a daily basis.

It is also essential to engage in moments of self-reflection on a regular basis to determine whether our current efforts are good enough, as if we aren’t achieving the desired results, then our approach might be flawed and we should rethink our strategy.

However, it is important to acknowledge a level of realism, understanding our limitations and accepting that each day’s efforts are sufficient. We could always do more, but if that is what we achieved, it suffices. The next step is to review the lessons learned each day and apply them in future situations.

3. Become Solution-Oriented

In line with the previous line of thinking, it is better to be solution-oriented rather than problem-oriented.

What I mean by that is that many people waste a lot of time overthinking, contemplating, and lamenting the paths not taken. However, the past is finished, and now there is only the present and future in front of us. In other words, the best we can do is make the most of our current situation, not waste any more time on negative thinking, and focus our efforts on what we will do next.

Certainly, some self-reflection is important, but it should be solution-oriented. For example, in this and that situation, I should do this and that. Similarly, we should avoid future anxiety, the “what-if” thinking. By focusing on the solutions of what we can and should do, rather than excessively overthinking what might happen. This can also prevent us from taking necessary action to live our best lives.

4. Become Content With What You Have

What is happiness? Simply put, if you have too many desires, as we are incentivized to have in the modern age, then every desire will become something we don’t have, which causes unhappiness and discontent. This presents an opportunity as the fastest and easiest way to become happy is to become satisfied with who we are and whatever we have, regardless of how much or little it is.

Certainly, we should always plan and try to achieve something in our lives. However, we shouldn’t attach a certain expectation to whether we will actually achieve that goal, as realistically speaking, we never know for a fact what will happen.

We can hope for something good to happen and do our best to make it happen, but we can never be one hundred percent sure that it will happen exactly as we wanted it to. 

So the best thing we can do is to put in the effort, but have no expectation over the result. In the end, if we achieve something, great! If not, oh well… We were never committed to a specific outcome anyway.

5. Keep a Relaxed Mind

I like a quote that says “there is a time and a place for everything,” as well as a study that definitively shows that both men and women are bad at multitasking. I mean, we can multitask, but it’s just not as efficient as doing one thing at a time.

Given that if I decide to do something, I generally just do that one thing until it is done. I don’t overthink or daydream about anything else.

In other words, as mentioned in a different article, the fastest way to become unhappy is to think about something that you are not currently doing. Conversely, being fully focused on the task at hand is the best way to be in the flow and achieve a happy result.

Practically speaking, if I am at the beach, I am just enjoying the beach. I’m not thinking about work, as I will get to that when I am actually working. Similarly, if I’m working, I’m not thinking about the beach because at that specific time, I have to focus on the task at hand.

By following this exercise, I keep my mind relaxed and focused on the task at hand. Naturally, I regularly review what I need to do, but that is a separate task in itself. By doing this, I’m never distracted or absent-minded. I’m happy because I do whatever I need to do when I’m doing it.

Conquering FOMO

Ultimately, conquering FOMO requires a little bit of organization and a correct way of thinking, and this article provides really good tips on how to do it.

However, this is not the full happiness puzzle, as there are other factors that affect our happiness and well-being.

As such, if you want to learn more about how to be happier in your life, the best and fastest way to become the happiest you can be, reaching your happiest potential and maintaining it today and forever is to contact us for a 30-minute free call. During this call, we will review in detail your life, goals, and create a detailed plan to help you reach this amazing goal.

Stay happy!