When you are young, naive and in a new environment there is often a great unease with which one can walk around. I remember when I first went off to boarding school, I knew one other person there.   We hadn’t been great friends beforehand but we surely became people on whom to count.  Particularly, it was quite important to have that person who served as a dining buddy. I just didn’t want to be seen eating alone. Although, now, go figure, I love it. Thus, four score and seven years ago, I had experienced major bouts of FOMO.

What is FOMO you ask? Well, it is an abbreviation for Fear of Missing Out. There are a lot people who experience FOMO on a daily basis. As a kid away from home, FOMO ran through my veins. As a matter of fact, I ended up living in Spain as a result. FOMO isn’t all bad. It actually helped me move and propel my life forward. I used that fear of missing out to try new things and places. I used it to meet new people. I couldn’t stay at home if there was a party.   Although, sadly, more often than not I would go to the party and find it to be a waste of time.

My fear of missing out was often quite unfounded.  Here is the thing. Most people have FOMO but most people aren’t doing anything exciting to begin with. In that respect, Netflix has helped with reducing FOMO across the board. People can happily stay home and binge watch. It is the norm now. So, does that mean FOMO is over and done with? Of course not.

As adults you may often see FOMO in the workplace. It can be that fear of being left out of the happy hour gathering.   And by the way, as a boss, get used to being left out or at least you should maybe strive to be left out.  Do you really want to be around staff when they get drunk and want to vent collectively about their bad workplace environment or a lack of a raise?  Anyway, that was a tangent. Back to FOMO. As an adult in the workplace, you may feel FOMO near the watercooler or at the sight of a lunchtime caravan. Or even better yet there is that weird FOMO feeling at not being part of a project. The horror.  In none of those instances, does it psychologically or otherwise pay to feel FOMO.   Do as Elsa notes “Let it go”.   FOMO should just be a NOGO.   Download netflix onto your phone and enjoy some time out in the sun.   Now if FOMO will lead you to travel the world far and wide, then I say feel it all. There is a time and place for FOMO that is healthy. Find your right fit.