Life | 5 Min Read
#25 - FOMO
FOMO, or the Fear Of Missing Out is a serious problem and something I've struggled with. In this edition I share my experiences and stories about it.
Hey Friends 👋
I hope you had a great week? And, March overall as this is the last newsletter edition of March 2022.
This week I want to talk about the power of social media and the influence it can have on ourselves and the journey we take...
I have been on Twitter for years, at least since 2012/3 from memory but I had never taken it seriously until the middle of the pandemic in February/March 2021. That's when I decided to take the new Twitter account I made for the Tech Twitter community and start to take part in the community instead of lurking.
Now, I've always been a somewhat entrepreneurial person, even back in school I would think about business ideas and starting a business/going freelance. So it's no surprise that I naturally gravitated to the more entrepreneurial side of Tech Twitter. And, once I was there, it didn't take long for me to realise the popularity of content creation and sharing one's journey/knowledge on the platform and the impacts it can have.
Instantly in my mind, I was telling myself I need to do the same. And, in March 2021, that's exactly what I did. I started creating content for my Twitter account and sharing my knowledge/journey with the rest of the world, something I still do to this day nearly a year later.
While it seems second nature to me now to create daily content and share it with the world; there was a time when this would've seemed completely alien to me. And, it's social media and seeing others do it along with their stories of success that inspired me to start.
In this situation, I believe it was a good thing and it contributes to my goals and aspirations of what I want to achieve.
But, there have been times where I've been "inspired" by others and decided to follow their lead and it hasn't turned out so well. For example, building a blog/following around self-improvement and productivity, I love reading and consuming material around these topics but my end goal has never been to become a teacher of productivity or a self-improvement expert guiding others on their paths to becoming more productive, etc.
In a way, this moonlight adventure into trying to become a self-improvement/productivity expert was a waste of time and just distracted me from making progress on my actual goals.
So, why did this happen? Why did I go on this adventure for a few months if I knew it didn't align with my end goals?
In a single word (well, acronym); FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out, in case you don't know).
I saw the successes these self-improvement/productivity experts were having and didn't want to miss out so I jumped on board and chased it without stopping to think about if it's what I wanted; a grave mistake.
This is why social media is a double-edged sword. In my opinion, it helps you achieve your goals but if you're not careful it can derail you onto something that doesn't help you but rather hinders.
So, what have I learned going through this experience?
We should learn lessons from people online, take the best from what they are teaching/offering. But, before you jump into doing something and dedicating precious resources towards it, really evaluate it and if it will help you achieve your goals.
Or, if you're doing it out of FOMO as I did...
I hope you have an amazing week next week and a great April. I look forward to chatting with you again next week.
Thank you for reading as always,
Coner x
Making Waves 🌊
On the topic of social media and content creation, this week one of my tweets performed so well I think it might be my best of all time (if not, it is up there).
It was a collection of all of my JavaScript Array Method explained tweets coupled together into one thread. But, it's been a long time coming.
To make this one thread, I've been sending out tweet with a new method 3/4 times/week since the start of the year and none of them has performed exceptionally well on their own.
But, by combining all of the methods into one thread, it performed unbelievably well. So, if nothing else, this tweet proves that consistency and putting time into something can pay off in the long run.
So, if you're going through something similar or are doubting whether to continue with something due to not getting great results; keep going and keep being consistent. Consistency will pay off. 💪
If you're interested here is the tweet in question 👇
Personal Website Redesign 💻
The website is progressing well; the blog is largely built from a base functionality point of view, with just some styling and final touches to the functionality to add. Then it's onto the contact me page and resolving some bugs and we should be good to go live. 🤩
I was originally aiming for an end of March live date and while that would still be amazing, the realistic side of me knows that probably won't happen.
But, I'm confident it will be finished by mid-April providing no massive issues come up. 😅
Thought, Question, Challenge 🤔
- Thought: Everyone's journey is different. Regardless if you share a goal with someone, how you both get there is likely to be wildly different.
- Question: Have you ever jumped into something without stopping and thinking about it due to FOMO? How did it go?
- Challenge: Outline everything you are currently doing and how you're spending your resources, do they align with your end goals? If not, can you remove some activities to free up resources to pursue your goals?
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Questions
If you have a question you'd like me to ask me then I'd ask you to consider publically tweeting me it so others may be able to learn from it. However, I understand not all questions are suitable for the public domain in which case you can email me at hey@conermurphy.com
