Do you ever find yourself at an event and wonder how you got there? Maybe you were scrolling through your social media feeds and got enticed by the pictures and videos of people having fun, but now that you’re there you realize that you have no idea what the event is about. Or maybe you constantly heard people talking about this event and felt like you would be missing out on something life-changing if you didn’t attend. This is how FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) works. This is a fear designed to make you think that you are missing out on living your best life if you don’t go to the trendiest places, you don’t read the book everyone’s talking about, or even if you don’t attend the most sought-after events.
FOMO has been made worse by social media, which makes the best of us think that everyone else is living an absolutely fabulous life compared to our own. Did you know that the average adult spends four hours a day refreshing their social media feeds? This is an impossible standard to achieve and it can make you a little crazy trying to keep up. You end up wasting time doing a lot of things you don’t enjoy.
In contrast, JOMO (Joy Of Missing Out) encourages us to find pleasure in choosing what we want, or don’t want to do by better understanding ourselves, our needs and what makes us tick. This way, you are free to choose to do only the things that make you happy and not feel as if you’re missing out on anything. Want to experience joy? Here’s what you need to do.
1. Remove distractions
JOMO is all about being happy and content within yourself and the things you do. This can be difficult to achieve if you are constantly getting distracted by social media notifications from a friend of yours that went on that holiday, or you keep getting texts to attend some event. You could turn off your phone and computer and limit the time you spend on social media or delete some apps. That way, you will have time to do the things that you enjoy. Technology and Social Media: Time to unplug
2. Schedule some me time
Instead of worrying about what other people are doing, schedule some time in the day for yourself to do things that are important to you and that you enjoy. This can also be a time for quiet reflection as you learn more about yourself and what you like.
3. ‘No’ is a whole sentence
JOMO is knowing what you like and sticking with your choices. No matter how tempted you are to accompany a friend to an event or how much they beg, say no if it isn’t good for you.
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4. Live in the present
Don’t allow yourself to live your life trying to reach some lofty social media standard of what you should be doing with your time and where you should be seen. Learn to embrace life’s little moments and let go of the fear that something better is happening somewhere else. Do those seemingly small things that bring you joy like talking to a loved one, learning a new skill, or sleeping and you’ll have no regrets.
As Henry David Thoreau said, “Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.” If we were to look back on our lives, we wouldn’t regret the missed parties or keep up with people on social media, but all the relationships we never worked on, the things we loved that we never did and the joyful moments we missed. So miss out on some things and grab the joy, instead!
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