How FUD, FOMO, and YOLO Are Ruining Your Life

And how to stop them before it’s too late

FUD: Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt

FOMO: Fear Of Missing Out

YOLO: You Only Live Once

Lately, it’s become difficult to read an article, listen to an interview, or watch a Video without coming across one of these acronyms.

They actually represent opposite forces — one prevents action while the other two encourage it- and yet, they are all based on fear.

Ah, fear, our long life companion. What would we do without it?

Fud and Fomo are used as a weapon of manipulation — buy this or you’ll miss out, vote for X and they’ll ruin your country — the manipulators want you either to stop what you are doing or to do what suits their agenda. In both cases, if you listen to them you are screwed. Yolo on the other hand, it’s more on the hedonistic side, we use it to pursue pleasure even when we know we shouldn’t.

FUD

You’ve made a decision, you’ve thought about it and made up your mind. But then, What if you are wrong? What if you didn’t fully consider the consequences? What if they are right?

Doubt and insecurity are always going to stalk you down your path, whatever that is. There’s never a perfect decision, same as there’s never a completely wrong decision. But once you’ve made up your mind, you have to stick to your guns and see it through. Other ways you’d always be chased by regrets and what-ifs.

There are two enemies at play here. The FUDders and your ego.

The FUDders will awake your insecurities but ultimately your ego will pull the plug. That little voice in your head telling you: don’t do it, you are not good enough, who are you trying to fool? This is just your ego trying to sabotage you.

Expert manipulators know this and will do anything to trigger your fears.

How to stop FUD

Every time you hear someone trying to scare you, ask yourself: What ulterior motives do these people have?

In most cases, you’ll find they have a hidden agenda and the best you can do is to do the opposite of what they want.

Why are governments sending our kids to fight in the Middle East? Why are banks cautioning us about cryptocurrencies? Why is the Pope warning you about hell if you don’t obey the commandments?

Don’t you see the agenda here? They are using FUD to protect their Status Quo and carry on living a privileged life at your expense.

Don’t click the bait. Don’t let your ego take over. Question everything and think for yourself, however difficult that might be.

FOMO

Fomo is in the opposite spectrum. They want you to take action instead of pulling back. If you don’t buy crypto now, you’ll miss out! If you don’t buy a house, later it’ll be too expensive! This sale is only available for 5 more mins! Don’t miss out!

All that is bullshit, just a clumsy attempt to prompt you into action. Let me tell you a big secret they never mention:

It’s never too late for anything

You can buy a house now or in 10 years.

Crypto will be a good investment forever.

You can marry now or next year or never.

Whether you do it or not, you’ll be fine.

In fact, that would be a good shield against FOMO: Whatever you want to do, wait for 10 years and if you still want to do it, then go ahead. By using this cooling off period, you’ll avoid many mistakes provoked by rushing in.

If something is worth doing, it’s worth doing forever. If something is not worth it, it’ll never be worth it.

Don’t let them rush you into making a decision. That once-in-a-lifetime opportunity will come around about every other week. Let NO be your default answer for the opportunity evangelists.

Fight FOMO with FUD and Vice versa

When you find yourself chasing an opportunity because you don’t want to miss out, think: Are you sure you want to do this? What if it doesn’t work? What if you lose money? This way you’ll counteract your FOMO with FUD and will make a more balanced decision.

Do the same with FUD, counter balance it with FOMO and then discard both to take a step back and look at life from a place of equilibrium.

Another way to stop your fears from taking over is to stop watching the news, any news in whichever format they come. Keep in mind that Twitter, FB, YouTube, and Google are forms of news. Minimize your exposure and make sure there’s a big enough gap between trigger and action of the lack of thereof. Take time off from TV, the news, social media, refresh your mind and you’ll be in a better position to choose right. You won’t be missing out on anything.

YOLO

Yolo it’s the kind of thing we tell ourselves when we want to be naughty. Nothing wrong with that…until you realize you are too fat, too unhealthy, divorced, and in prison.

Yolo is not only necessary, but also compulsory, if you want to live a full life, however, you shouldn’t abuse it. Always think about the consequences of your actions.

Cheating on your partner, drinking in the morning, or engaging in dangerous behavior are very YOLO things, but so are living a miserable life due to the irresponsible choices you made in the past.

Precisely because life is too short, you shouldn’t live it carelessly, you should ponder every decision to make sure it’s in line with your mission, your goals, and your values.

Besides, Yolo is often abused by advertisers when they want you to indulge in unhealthy behaviors — junk food, drugs, alcohol, smoking, etc. Keep an eye on these manipulators and don’t fall for the hedonistic trap. A life devoted to pleasure is a very miserable life indeed.

Develop Awareness

All these fears happen because we have not trained our minds to develop awareness. The mind is a capricious animal, playful and yet fearful. We have desires and fears that rule our lives and yet, most of those are just a mirage. You don’t need to make millions in order to be happy and the terrorists are not going to kill you (statistically speaking). Both ideas are mere delusions. You can be happy right now if you decide to, your fears are never going to materialize, and even if they do, it won’t be as bad as you imagine.

The only tool you’ve got against fear and desire is meditation. Sit down every morning for 10 mins and focus on your breath. Do it everyday and you’ll become really good at observing your mind from the outside, as if it were a different entity. Once you develop awareness, FUD, FOMO and YOLO will slide off you like rain on a window.

Beware of manipulators but overall beware of your ego. It’s ultimately your biggest enemy. Tame it and you’ll do fine in life.

All the best.