FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) and JOMO (Joy Of Missing Out) are two opposite terms. FOMO leaves significant impacts on mental health and happiness, while JOMO is an ideal solution to escape this phenomenon.
FOMO is a psychological phenomenon that manifests through stress, worrying that you will miss something. In FOMO, the sadness of missing something can impact more than the joy of achieving it. This syndrome consists of 2 stages: the fear of missing out leads to compulsive actions.
Particularly, when in a state of anxiety and restlessness because of those fears, people will easily lose control of their thoughts, leading to irrational actions and wrong decisions. Consequently, FOMO results in sleep disorders, work efficiency, and even mental health disorders.
Usually, people with FOMO syndrome often have symptoms such as sticking to the phone frequently. Obviously, smartphones gradually become indispensable items for the majority of young people today. Smartphones and social media can interrupt your meetings or dates, making you accidentally miss important things in life, even special relationships. Additionally, impulsive buying is another symptom of FOMO, as people do not want to miss out on any trends, so they buy all new things despite no need to use them.
Where is the cause of FOMO syndrome?
Lack of confidence:
People with FOMO syndrome often tend to unknowingly underestimate themselves and think that they are inferior to others. Therefore, they always want to follow what the people around them do to feel that they are not inferior to them.
Technology:
The unlimited information on social media makes people always stick to their phones as a habit to update the latest information. They always carry a curious mentality about what is going on with the world, their friends, or their idols. Still, they will never feel enough with the information they have just received. Research by Toledo University showed that there is a correlation between excessive-using-smartphone people and FOMO.
To deal with FOMO syndrome, let’s turn FOMO into JOMO, meaning “Joy Of Missing Out”. To be elaborate, JOMO is considered as the feeling of enjoying and appreciating what you are doing in every moment at present without worrying or feeling pressured about what others are doing.
Henceforth, JOMO brings a sense of happiness and eases negative emotions when ignoring the “common” joy. Accordingly, people can apply JOMO by the following tips:
Focusing on strengths:
Instead of focusing on what you are lacking, just focus on what you are good at. The psychologists pointed out that people who understand their strengths have a better sense of purpose in life. Using social media wisely by choosing to display the inspired and motivated content, and limiting content that can cause a negative state of mind.
Building a “real” connection:
Technology is gradually creating distance from real relationships, leading to feeling lost, and more lonely. The solution is staying away from electronic devices by scheduling appointments and hanging out with friends, and increasing face-to-face interactions rather than through a screen.
A study by SAGE Journal figured out that feeling connected to others is one of the supporting factors to create intrinsic motivation and improve self-awareness. Therefore, a face-to-face talk will help you be less afraid of missing out, so instead of feeling jealous, you will feel happy about the others’ success.
