“If you try and be everyone’s cup of tea you might as well be a mug.”
— Magid Magid, UK MEP and immigrant
FOMO – in this world where social media is so carefully psychologically constructed to keep you hooked, the Fear Of Missing Out is a huge cause of anxiety.
FOPO is just as bad: The Fear Of People’s Opinions.
“What will they think of me?” stops so many of your words, ideas, desires, and projects – and so quickly.
We spend so much time concerned what they think. We try and be all kinds of things to all kinds of people. We act and play roles, we second guess and doubt ourselves, we constantly wonder if we said or did the right thing.
FOPO is a real thing – but you have to play your game.
You have to see the FOPO voice that stops you being authentic and true in those times that truly matter to you, and instead be bold and step forward.
The fact is all your heroes have gone out on a limb, risking at the very least, disapproval: every single one of them.
And it was never the absence of FOPO that enabled them to act, but knowing that showing up and being authentic was more important than the FOPO.
They may not have gotten it right all the time, but they had self-respect, authenticity and freedom from doubt, and at the end of the day they made a very real difference to the whole world.
All from not listening to a voice in their heads.