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FOMO: Get the Good & Miss Out on the Bad – Patrick McGinnis – Love Your Work, Episode 229
Can you feel the anxiety piling up? You know what it is – it’s FOMO. The Fear of Missing Out. In a hyper-connected world, FOMO is more intense than ever.
Our friends are sharing amazing travel photos on Instagram, people are talking about the hot new investment opportunity on Twitter, news headlines bait us with the mystery of what we’ll find out if only we’d click.
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Even social distancing isn’t enough to calm FOMO. Sure, you have little choice but to stay home, but then you see the screenshot of the Zoom party you weren’t invited to.
Having a fear of missing out is an innately human thing – it’s been around forever. But FOMO is relatively new. In fact the term FOMO – so ubiquitous it’s in the dictionary – was invented in 2004, by today’s guest, Patrick McGinnis.
Patrick McGinnis (@pjmcginnis) is the author of Fear of Missing Out: Practical Decision-Making in a World of Overwhelming Choice. When Patrick invented FOMO, he was a student at Harvard Business School – a choice-rich environment. More than fifteen years later, Patrick still thinks about the dark side and the bright side of FOMO – as a venture capitalist.
If you’re going to love your work, you have to make great decisions. That’s what this conversation will help you do.
There’s more to FOMO than you think. In this episode, you’ll learn:
- How can FOMO be a good thing? If you’re feeling the FOMO, it might be a sign.
- With all the lip service FOMO gets, it’s a shame more people don’t think about FOMO’s cousin: FOBO. What is FOBO, and why is it all bad?
- FOMO and FOBO can wipe out your mental energy with decision fatigue. Learn a quick and fun hack for saving brain cycles called “ask the watch.” You’ll love it.
P.S. Patrick McGinnis is one of the last guests we’ll have on Love Your Work for awhile. Why? Because I’m dedicating every ounce of creative energy to my upcoming book, Mind Management, Not Time Management. (Remember, the Preview Edition is available for a limited time. I’ll still be workshopping ideas from the book in my bi-weekly essay episodes, so stay subscribed for those.
You don’t want to miss this conversation. If you do, you’ll regret it!
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Theme music: Dorena “At Sea”, from the album About Everything And More. By Arrangement with Deep Elm Records. Listen on Spotify »
