Edit Your Life: Your FOMO is making you go broke

I have never been a fan of people using FOMO to justify their bad life decisions.

For those who don't know, FOMO stands for the "Fear Of Missing Out". And my generations has it BAD.

I partly blame social media (darn all those shopping spree haul videos and amazing looking Eurotrips). When it appears that the whole social sphere is living their best life, it is easy to feel left out. And when you're engrossed in social media, kind of like most of us are, that constant exposure to the over glamorized but often misleading world of social lies, er, life is not good for the psyche.

But I also blame it on my generation's entitlement issues. To be blunt right here at this point, I know most of us received participation trophies and the like, but that means crap when it comes to being an adult. There are no participation trophies for adulthood. Everyday, you have to work hard to earn yours. You don't get what you think you deserve, you get what you work hard for.

And our collective and especially our individual FOMO is emptying our bank accounts, depleting our savings, and racking up our credit card debit. I.E. making us go broke. We want the latest bag or the coolest shoes because we saw some girl on the street with them. We want to go to Bali because our coworker just came back from her 5 day yoga retreat there. We want to make it to every single party/function/ event just in case something awesome or cool or weird happens. We need new, unseen outfits for all of these events, functions, and parties, so we spend big on looks we might only ever wear once.

And the madness must STOP.

Listen love, you going to all those parties, eating at all of those restaurants (especially when you've got good food in your fridge right now), spending the hard earned cash you make every week is NOT doing wonders for your accounts, credit, closet, or anything else.

So how do we overcome FOMO? When FOMO attacks me, here's what I do:

Looking at your own life rather than everyone else's:
It's easy to feel like you're missing out when it looks like everyone around you is doing something fun and luxurious all of the time. But look at you own life. Look at the things you own and the achievements you have made. Look at your own accomplishments. I can guarantee you will find something to make you love your own life again more than you love what you think other people's lives are like.

Check your motives:
Ask yourself why you want to go to a specific place or buy a specific thing. Is it because everyone else is doing it? Is it because you yourself actually want to do it? Can you do it responsibly (i.e. not going broke)? These questions eliminate the impulsive behavior that is making you broke and addresses the actual concerns.

Gratitude Journaling:
Yes, I mean it. Actually sit and make a list of all the things you like and are grateful for in your own life. I guarantee by the end of that exercise, the FOMO will be gone.

Unplugging from Social Media: 
Social media is mostly filled with lies. And not everyone is who they post to be (get it?). But too often, we believe these lies and see the glossy, stylish lives other people are living and it makes us hate our own mundanity. However, what you perceive as mundanity is real, its authentic, and it's happening now. Log off social and live in the now. Go for a walk, take a bubble bath, open your Word, call a friend or a family member and have a real conversation. Guarantee the FOMO will fall off.

Start a FOMO savings plan:
You heard me right. Take all that cash that you would typically blow on a weekend shopping spree for more clothes that you don't need or parties you don't even really want to go to, and save it. Then, when you find something that you actually want to do, like a fancy vacation, a spa day, you have the cash.