If you haven’t heard the term FOMO, it’s probably because you just don’t know the acronym. As soon as I say it stands for “fear of missing out,” any human being can immediately relate. If you haven’t heard of JOMO, however, read on!
We have all felt the pang of knowing that others are having a great time and we’re not a part of the action. It’s why kids hate going to bed when mom and dad are having people over, why you want to have the latest smartphone everyone is talking about, and why you pour over your friends’ vacation pictures on Instagram, wishing you had that kind of awesome life.
Here’s the thing. It’s all bullshit! Marketers have been exploiting FOMO for as long as there has been advertising. They didn’t invent it, they just figured out how to tap into something that, in my opinion, is a pretty natural human emotion that centers on our innate desire to belong to a group. I’m just here to tell you not to let it get the best of you, and you can do that by embracing FOMO’s corollary — the joy of missing out!
JOMO can absolutely just happen to you without intentionally striving for it. I know that because that is what happened to me. JOMO started to creep in during my late 20s and early 30s. I found myself turning down invitations from friends because I just wanted to take a hot bath and catch a hockey game. Then later, I started to eschew fashion trends because they felt silly. Rather than wanting to follow whatever the latest fad was, I felt a huge satisfaction in simply recognizing that it was just an invented need. I was also at a point in my life where I was comfortable in my own skin. I knew what habits, clothes, people, experiences, and stuff just worked for me, and didn’t feel the need to keep up with the herd to make it look like I had it together or feel societal validation. That’s it. JOMO is about not caring what others think. Hmmm, what does that remind you of?
Isn’t thinking independently and not following the herd what the FIRE mentality is all about? We will joyfully “miss out” (if you can even call it that) on the obsessive consumerism that defines our modern society and instead embrace learning skills, spending time with love ones, authentic experiences and, well, real life.
Here is a great article from Psychology Today that expands on JOMO and how to combat it in other parts of life.