How To Conquer FOMO & Live in The Moment
How To Conquer FOMO & Live In The Moment
FOMO means Fear Of Missing Out, in case you didn’t know (now do you have fomo about not knowing what fomo was?).
We might joke about FOMO but it truly is a growing problem. We are so connected to our online world- constantly refreshing our Instagram, Snapchat, or Twitter feed to see what others are doing or talking about. We pick up our phones so often to make sure we didn’t miss any last minute plans.
There is so much content online it feels like something important is always happening. Once I finally catch up and finished watching the newest coolest Netflix show, people are talking about the next one. It is a constant game of catch-up. Catching up to the new post that was made and how the media reacted to it, who said what? Oh, there's a new podcast out? And Michelle Obama’s book came out? What did Trump tweet?
Ok, we get it, there's a lot going on and a lot of fear or worry about not knowing the latest thing that happened. So how do we conquer this FOMO and live presently? By living mindfully. There are scientific studies showing that staying present and leaning towards discomfort helps alleviate the pain by being able to monitor and cope with the uneasiness.
Here are Five Tips to Live In The Moment
Slow Down
Take your time doing one task at a time, most of the time there is no need to multitask and it’s actually counterproductive. Practice taking your time while driving, talking, walking, eating, reading etc..
2. Focus On Your breath
By placing all awareness on your breathe you are practicing being present with yourself. Try being fully attentive of your breath for 5 minutes, notice how deep or shallow your breathe is, how warm or cold your breath is, how you breathe from your nose or your mouth etc.. You might notice your breaths are quick and shallow and can improve that to help you feel more relaxed and present. Do this a couple minutes a day until it becomes a habit and when you realize you are living the past you know to go back to your breath.
3. Improve Your Ability to Accept
Acceptance is the only way to deal with the past, when you accept the past you are allowing yourself to move on from it and making room for the present. It is also important to accept the idea that the future is not as important as we make it out to be. When we become too captivated by the potential of the future, we can miss the real potential we have at this moment. The present offers you hundreds of experiences, opportunities, and lessons that you cannot learn from when reflecting on the past and is impossible to learn from the future. Once you accept the past as the past and accept that the future cannot be controlled all we have left is right now.
4. The Five Senses
Whenever I feel myself getting lost in thought about the future or the past I use this quick exercise to bring me back to the moment I’m in right now. The exercise has to deal with our five senses. I sit down and begin to ask myself these questions: What do I feel? What do I smell? What do I hear? What do I taste? These five questions bring our attention back to the present moment and can easily be done anywhere and anytime.
5. Set a Goal and Let It Go
It is important to set goals for ourselves and work towards achieving them. However, we can’t predict the future so the trick here is to set a goal and let it go. Don’t hold on so tightly to this goal, let everything play out, be present and trust that your goals will be reached. Set a goal, look slightly at your goal but remain in the present moment so you can fully be aware of the process of getting to that goal.
Now we can confidently move on from FOMO and be here right now!
