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FOMO – Fear of Missing Out: the nagging feeling you get when you’re thumbing through your social feed late at night, and you see everyone’s highlight reel: those perfect vacation snaps with the bluest waters, the greenest of greenery, lofty mountains, whitest powder like snow, the glitzy parties, the achievements. It can hit you right in the gut, making you question your own life choices, feel – sadness, guilt or shame because have developed a fear of missing out.
FOMO has become all-too prevalent with advancement of social media. While social media is not the only culprit, discussions in office or other social settings can trigger FOMO. It is an experience that many of us are familiar with. And while it is directly related to our self-esteem and self-worth, it also has a direct effect on our physical, mental, and emotional health.
Let me share a bit of my own story. I’m a runner – well, I try to be. When I first laced up over a decade ago, aiming to conquer a few kilometres, I was bombarded with tales of marathons and record-breaking times. It would give a lot of stress with the belief that I am not able to commit to the time, effort or keep up with such exacting standards. I would push myself to run faster than what my body could adapt too and multiple times I ended up injuring myself and completely stopping me from taking part in my hobby.
So, something that started as a hobby to get my mind away from work, keep me fit started troubling me physically, mentally, and emotionally. It is only after a few years that I truly started understanding the concept of “Personal Best” or PB in short – the fastest time or longest distance that I could run, where I am not competing or comparing against anybody but myself. This helped me build my sense of self.
I was not on a race against anyone else I was on my own journey.
Similarly in Personal Financial Planning – your financial situation is as unique as your fingerprint. What works for one will not work for another. There is no one-size-fits-all solution.
Everyone is on their own journey.
If over a water cooler conversation, you figure out that a colleague, who gets similar salary as you, is able to save significantly more every month than you – how would that make you feel? A feeling that you are not trying hard enough??
But do you really know everything about this situation even to compare yourself to this other colleague? You just need to step back and think – Your situation is unique. You might be paying a home loan EMI while your colleague might be staying with their parents. So, it is quite natural for your colleague to have higher surplus for investing.
Everyone tends to put only the good part of their lives on social media. People love to showcase their wins and gloss over their losses.
FOMO in Personal Finance results in impulsive investment decisions (think Crypto, F&O, Real Estate, Stocks…) driven by the fear of missing out on a potentially profitable opportunity. This results in making decisions which are not aligned to their financial and personal goals.
Having a personal financial plan and a professional financial advisor can help reduce external noise and better align investment decisions with a person’s risk tolerance and financial goals. Your objectives are different from others – so the process to achieve the required objectives are also different from others.
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