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FOMO

Somewhere at this very moment, someone is doing something you aren’t doing.

They like their job more than you do.  Have better plans for tonight. Make more money than you. And found new friends to battle in a game of Angry Birds or Words with Friends.

I bet you feel like you are missing out.

When you realize this, you can’t help but wish you had more things to do.  That your job paid more or that you didn’t have to study for an exam.  You think about it, worry about it, maybe even stress out about it.

This is commonly known as FOMO: The Fear of Missing Out.

We’ve all come face to face with it, especially MBAs and lawyers.  In the business world,  everyone always seems like they are doing more.  They travel more frequently, get more miles for flights, and have more time off to have more fun than you. And in the legal world, you’re often stuck in the office while your friends leave early. Facebook makes it seem worse, since people now brag about how much they do, even though Facebook is largely a tool for exaggeration.

But FOMO is not new. It has been here forever. FOMO existed in high school. Our parents had FOMO.

The best way to stop having FOMO is to work on things where you won’t get distracted.  Focus on the things that matter.  Devote your attention to worthy causes.  Work on art that you care about you.  Find your Wildly Important Goals.

Easier said than done of course. Especially if you are in job you aren’t passionate about.

But if you focus on those things today, right now, the distractions won’t bother you. In fact, you probably won’t even know they are there.

Just a thought.