5 Ways to Combat FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) & Pad Your Wallet

I recently stumbled upon Finance Superhero’s piece, “Overcome FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) in 7 Steps,” and was enlightened to write about the ways I personally combat FOMO.

FOMO is likely the most prevalent psychosocial disorder plaguing our society, a nation with the great abundance in choices and options.

1. Create rather than consume: financially, intellectually, physically, and spiritually.

Before I took off walking our dog Lola, I put Mini’s phone and iPad away, and left a note, “please don’t turn on/use anything electronics with a screen. Honey, you can read, write, paint, or create anything with your mind. But don’t begin your day with consuming passively. I’ll be back in an hour.”

When I return from my peaceful, refreshing walk in our neighborhood, I was surprised by the beautiful song Mini composed, while I was gone.

She then proceeded to record this song multiple times on my phone so that we could choose the best version to set the melody, which we could write down into notes for her accompanist to play on the piano (mom or dad.)

Both Mini and I were pleasantly surprised with what we found within ourselves when we chose creation over consumption.

2. Multi-tasking is over-rated.

As good as I was at working seven odd jobs while double-majoring and sleeping four hours daily for extended periods of time, I do better when I focus and harness my energy with a sense of direction.

While many people pride themselves in their ability to multi-task. I’ve learned the hard way that I’m not as good a multi-tasker as I’d imagined. I’d rather give my all to what’s at hand than to be non-committal and half-hearted about multiple things.

3. Variety is the spice of life. But if there's no commitment/substance in life, there's nothing to spice up.

If there’s no turkey or tofu, what is there to spice up? I venture to say the reason we are so over-fed and under-nourished physically and fiscally, is that we have too many options in flavors and spices, but not enough focus on nutritious whole-foods raw materials supplied by nature.

Instead of eating Cheetos of innumerable artificial, lab-engineered flavors, why not for once bite into an apple filled with nutrients, naturally nourishing our bodies the way we have evolved to be for hundreds of years.

4. What I most fear missing is really right in front of me.

Being in the moment and giving my 100% here and now is how I will truly maximize my limited time on earth. Remember, you chose to pursue this career, you chose to start a family, you chose to be a life-long learner.

To our surprise, our young, idealistic, naive, less distracted, less baggage-laden self may know what’s worth our time more than we do today. Learning, loving, serving requires being here and now, and being here and now will naturally maximize our time.

Instead of pining over the greener grass on the other side, water your lawn for once!

5. 100% commitment frequently translates into 100% satisfaction.

This is true per human nature, and this trick work on kids and adults alike. While parenting book encourage us to include our children in food preparation, vouching that kids are more likely to enjoy the nutritious foods they help prepared than otherwise. Research has also shown that we tend to like people to whom we’ve devoted more energy, time, and resources. It’s a positive feedback the loop, the more we serve someone, the more we love him/her, and the more we are inclined to serve him or her.

The more committed we are, the happier we are with our choices. The more on the fence we are, the less we feel happy with either side of the fence.

If you like this article, you might enjoy other DWM articles on Personal Finance, Investing, Retirement, Practice Management, & Lifestyle.

All articles by DWM are for informational purposes only and not intended as a substitute for professional advice. Please consult a professional accountant, financial adviser or lawyer, before making financial decisions.