Fear of Missing Out: Practical Decision-Making in a World of Overwhelming Choice

Venture capitalist McGinnis (The 10% Entrepreneur) breaks down the evolutionary responses known as the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) and Fear of Better Options (FOBO) in this lucid analysis. FOMO (“Social pressure resulting from the realization that you will miss out on or be excluded from a positive or memorable collective experience”) and FOBO (“An anxiety-driven urge to hold out for something better based on the perception that a more favorable alternative or choice might exist”) are terms McGinnis coined in articles he wrote while studying at Harvard Business School. These two fears, he argues, have plagued mankind since the beginning of time and have been exacerbated by social media. To overcome both FOMO and FOBO, he writes, one must center personal values and responsibilities and weigh them against outcomes: “When you find the power to choose what you actually want and the courage to miss out on the rest, you are finally liberated from indecision and the compulsion to have it all.” To this end, he provides steps for making decisions on social plans, strategies for saying “no” in different situations, and rules for overcoming fear. This is a useful one-stop shop for those looking to take a decisive stand against the fear of what could have been. (May)