Hi Unique,
You’re sitting in your room reading this post. You often sit in your room and see what all the others are doing. You know their stories before they tell you about it.
Sexy bikini pictures on the beach, huge burgers and the skyline of New York – that’s what you see every day on Instagram. You see all this, you see the happy people who travel the world’s best places, go to the best events and have the greatest cooperations.
Well, and then you take a closer look at yourself, alone, at home and suddenly this misgiving comes up in you. You scroll down, look at an Instagramstory and another. Time is running and half an hour has passed quickly. Quitting is hard, because the mobile phone is heavy in your hand, yes, it is almost as stuck and you want to see more. You can not get enough of all the great pictures. Or do you just hope for a story that is not so great? While you watch one video at a time, this feeling of misgiving continues to spread. Slowly your throat narrows and you realize how you keep hanging your head even more. What is the feeling? It are the good old self-doubts, well, and a bit of envy, a bit of resignation and maybe even a bit of disappointment. Instead of drinking your Pina Colada at the Maldives, you are sitting in your room with a bad feeling cocktail. Why are not you the person in the videos who has so much fun? Why do you always sit at home and look at those videos, instead of being in them?
You know this feeling and these thoughts only too well? Then you also suffer from FOMO, the first unofficial social media disease.
What is FOMO
Maybe it’s because of our full schedule, maybe because of all the films, or maybe it’s simply because of our social media activity – the fear of missing something is omnipresent. FOMO (Fear of missing out) is treated as an unofficial social media disease, as an event addiction. Instead of chasing time with friends and family, today’s events are what we are looking for. Finally, you can show all your followers where you have been again. You can tweak it, post on Facebook or show it live on Instagram.
More is more, because who makes more, experiences more! Right?
Is FOMO really a disease? I think everyone has these days, when he thinks, “Why not me?” Or “Oh, I’d love to be there too”. But if these thoughts come back daily and continue to increase, FOMO can become quite an illness.
Now you think for sure: So what? It doesn’t matter if I am envious. Therefore I’m not sick. I have no fever and no flu, I’m not bad, I do not feel weak. You are absolutely right, but the real problems actually occur only with the time. Because of the constant pressure that you put on yourself to be present everywhere, you start to be constantly stressed. And if you still miss something, then the disappointment is huge. In addition to the disappointment, the fear of missing something wears on you. Because even if you say that a cozy evening at home can be just as good, you are always wondering how the event might be, how the journey is going, or what interesting people the others get to know again. The pressure, the disappointment and the constant feeling to miss something can lead in the worst case to a burn out.
FOMO can become a serious illness and can not be hushed up!
FOMO also with big influencers
When I saw the last videos and captions of Masha, I was very surprised. Suddenly, the ever-perfect picture of the great influencers, which we all so envy, crumbles. She, too, had the feeling of missing something, always told that her life was so boring in comparison to that of her friends and that she wanted to withdraw a bit . I thought it was very brave that she showed this side of herself too, because if we are honest – who wants to see negative things? Nobody! We always want to see the perfectionism on Instagram, everyone is always happy, tanned and actually always “best friends”. Well, but that is not reallity. No matter how successful someone is in your eyes, there are always people who are better in something, have more stunning friends, the cooler destinations and the more exclusive cooperations. So dear Masha, you can be very proud of yourself that you have shown your subscribers this page as well.
Be honest with you and others
Maybe you’re sitting in front of your laptop or mobile phone and wondering why I’m writing such a nonsense. But maybe you’ll think about it again in a quiet minute, and you’ll also recognize yourself at one point or another. Then be honest with yourself. Please admit to yourself that sometimes you are also afraid to miss something. This is not a bad thing and you can talk about it with your friends. Sometimes even new opportunities arise when you simply admit that it is a pity that you can not be there with the others. Maybe one of your friends considers it a pity too, not to be there and you have a great evening together? Or you can still be with;)
The danger of FOMO mainly consists in concealment. To sit alone in your room and be annoyed, be envious and to watch several videos, stirs the fear and lifts the stress level. If you speak openly, however, the others will understand. Almost everyone is affected by FOMO and when it is only for 5 minutes.
3 Quick Tips against FOMO
1. Go planned offline. Detox is probably the trend 2016 and 2017. Why do not try it sometimes. Allow yourself a few hours a day without Internet. Getting started is easy on holiday. An interesting contribution with quite personal ??? You’ll find at Julia’s Stylingliebe.
2. Choose consciously for an event. You can not dance at two parties at the same time, but many people try. If there are two events at one evening, the location is often changed. Studies prove that this change is not only stupid for the host, but also makes unhappy. The other party could be really great right after your farewell.
3. Understand why you are afraid to miss something at some moments. If just such a moment comes again, then ask yourself, what would you rather do and why. Why is it so much better to be at this other party than at the one your are already?
JOMO – Joy of missing out
Of course, there is already a counter-movement to FOMO. A trend against a disease? Well, I do not know … and yet I like the attitude. You do not always have to be everywhere, and sometimes you need to have a little time for yourself.
Are you also affected or have friends who could also suffer from FOMO? Then share this post with them <3
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