FOMO vs JOMO

This post is a transcript from the video at the end of this post, where I talk about the two different ways I've learned to approach life.

FOMO is the fear of missing out. JOMO is the joy of missing out.

I used to focus on FOMO. I was always trying to keep up with the Jones's. I'd see someone else going on vacation, buying a new house, getting a new car, or a new job, and I'd feel like I was missing out if I wasn't doing the same thing. The reality is, I was chasing someone else's desires, not my own.

For me, I focus on JOMO, which is the joy of missing out. I really don’t care what other people are doing. If people are going on a vacation somewhere or they’re living this great lifestyle on social media, that’s great. I’m happy for them, but it doesn’t mean I should feel anxious about it or have anxiety because I do the things I want to do, which I need to focus on. And, if I focus on what everybody else is doing and have this fear that I’m missing out, it’s going to detract from me accomplishing the things that I want to accomplish and live into my full potential.

If you are looking at social media and you have FOMO, the fear of missing out, and you constantly live in a state of anxiety because you may not be living up to the Jones’s or “keeping up with the Jones’s” as they say, I recommend you consider JOMO and maybe get some joy in missing out. I don’t really care what other people are doing. I don’t care about the news. I don’t care about people going on vacation somewhere. I mean, I like it and I’m glad people are happy, but I don’t feel like I’m missing out just because somebody else is in Hawaii or Acapulco or wherever, I don’t feel jealous or “jelly” as they say, because I’m doing my own things. If you constantly feel jealous about somebody else and what they’re doing, because you have FOMO, it’s not really serving any purpose. It’s really just making you depressed and making you hold back on what you’re capable of. So, embrace JOMO instead of FOMO.