Don’t Fall Into The FOMO Trap
December 21, 2020
There is one Acronym that has become mainstream in recent times. It’s FOMO- Fear of missing out.
FOMO refers to a mindset where we get stuck looking at what others have, what others are doing, or what others are getting.
The more we look at others as a point of reference, the more we will suffer the Fear Of Missing Out.
- Oh, he has a bigger paycheck than what I have. Am I doing something wrong?
- That person is performing better, and I am lagging. I have to work harder!
- Her parents are supportive, while my parents are not.
- My boss appreciates him and not me. What must I do?
FOMO is a mediocrity mindset.
Excellence Mindset Vs. FOMO
The opposite of the FOMO mindset is a mindset of excellence.
When you come with a mindset of excellence, instead of focussing on others and what they possess, you focus on yourself. You don’t compete or benchmark with others; you compete with your “current” self to become better.
The more you compete with yourself, the better you become, and the more you grow. This attitude of competing with yourself is the foundation for the mindset of excellence.
Let me illustrate how FOMO plays out with a simple example.
Imagine a student scores 73 in some subject, while the Top student scores 78 out of a maximum score of 100.
- A FOMO mindset thinks, ” I just had to score six marks more, I would have been the class topper.”
- An excellence mindset, on the other hand, would say, ” I had the potential to score 100 marks in this exam had I not committed these five mistakes. I’ll practice more to ensure that I don’t repeat these mistakes(I’ll become better than my “current” self)
When you come with a FOMO mindset, you cap your progress and growth to the level of the people you compare yourself with.
On the other hand, an excellence mindset is always looking for opportunities to improve and grow intrinsically.
Replace your Fear of missing out with a mindset of excellence. You will experience the joy of growing.
[…] and feeling completely out of place, I tagged along with the rest of my colleagues because of a fear of missing out. Eventually, after a few weeks, I gave up. I could no longer keep up with the pretense of enjoying […]