Fight NYEFOMO for a better 2017
I have a New Year’s Eve prediction: FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) will be at the highest level it has been for the whole year.
And since FOMO is fueled by instant communication and social media, FOMO could very well reach an all-time high.
You’ll be at a party, and right about 11:07, there will be tension in the air. Is it excitement over the turning of the year? No, it’s FOMO. People frantically scanning their Instagram feeds and texting to find out if there’s someplace better they could be. Heads cast downward, their glittery “2017” glasses will collectively fall off their faces.
If they don’t move quickly, they’ll end up passing the new year stuck in traffic in lower Manhattan, racking up a 7x Uber fare. They’ll miss out. And that’s scary.
Years ago, I cast away New Year’s Eve FOMO. I wish I would have done it sooner.
I think it started accidentally. I had just moved to a new city, and hadn’t made many friends yet. I ended up staying in that New Year’s Eve.
At first, it gave me major FOMO. I must be a loser for staying in on New Year’s Eve, I thought.
But then I got my whiteboard out. I started reviewing my year, thinking about my values, and what I’d like to see happen in my life and work in the coming year.
It was different than any New Year’s Eve I had experienced. I didn’t wake up the next day, hung over, thinking so this is the new year, and I don’t feel any different. I had clarity, and renewed motivation.
It dawned on me that I had been paying an NYEFOMO tax for years. Why do people pay a $200 cover charge at a night club? NYEFOMO. Why do people fight for cabs at 2am? NYEFOMO. Why did I spend my precious time and mental resources going to a party, only to think about what other party I could be at? NYEFOMO.
I cast away NYEFOMO for good after that.
In fact, one of my first nights in Colombia was New Year’s Eve. I was pleased to see that everything was closed. Colombians tend to spend NYE at home with their families. I liked it. I ended up moving there.
If a good friend is throwing a party, and I know it will be a small group of FOMO-free people, sure, I’ll go. But I won’t go until about 11pm. Before that, I’ll be reviewing and planning. Once I’m at the party, I’ll refuse any temptation for FOMO.
New Year’s Eve is a great opportunity to get perspective on your life and work. There is a lot of collective energy around change and self-analysis, and the FOMO makes New Year’s Eve the worst night of the year to party—and thus, the best night of the year to stay in.
So, consider, this year, rejecting NYEFOMO. Really make an effort to review and plan, respectively, your 2016 and 2017. If you feel a wave of FOMO, whether at home with your notebook, or at a party, just duck under it and let it pass. You’ll avoid the NYEFOMO tax, and enter 2017 with a clear head.
As you plan 2017, think values, instead of resolutions »
