Fear of missing out can ironically mean we miss plenty.

 

It can mean we feel like we’re not quite there yet. We’re not quite good enough. We don’t know enough. We haven’t heard enough. We’re not quite cool enough.

 

The modern world really force feeds us this perspective. We are constantly sold the next big, bright shiny thing. We’re sold we are missing something in our lives. This is sales 101 and these messages are really persuasive.

 

Alternatively, we are constantly checking our many inboxes (email, social media channels, the many news updates and blogs we’re subscribed to) for fear of missing something important or newsworthy.

 

Not checking them every 5 minutes would be crazy right?

 

Not filling our bookshelves with every book on the market and instead just keeping a few really great ones would also be nuts right?

 

The paradox of our fear of missing out is that we really can miss out along the way if we let it paralyze us into not taking positive action.  If it keeps us in the starter blocks. If we let it convince us that we are not good enough right now.

How do we get over this fear?

We need to realise that fear of missing out can hinder more than it helps us at times.

 

We need to shut out some of the noise.

 

We need to recognise the hard sell tactics for what they are.

 

We need to select our information sources and flows carefully and make them easy to manage.

 

Most of all, we need to live our lives. Make our mistakes and learn our lessons yes but also know that we want to run our race. We don’t want to be stuck in the blocks the whole time.

 

Say goodbye to your fear of missing out. Live a life on your terms.

 

 

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I also write regularly for the Huffington Post and Medium