FOMO, or Fear of Missing Out, is a BIG topic for many location-independent entrepreneurs. We travel to these beautiful places that we feel excited, driven, even called to explore… and then we spend a huge amount of our time staring at our computer screens.

From the outside, people assume that the “laptop lifestyle” is a perpetual vacation, but those of us who live it know that we’re working and living… just like folks “back home.” The difference is that we might have a beautiful view from our window, and when we’re done for the day we have a new place to explore. That doesn’t mean that we don’t still experience FOMO, or that it isn’t real for us.

It’s absolutely real, and our ability to enjoy and “last” sustainably in this lifestyle is partially dependent on building strategies that allow us to address it.

I’ll be honest, since arriving in Santa Fe a few weeks ago I’ve noticed FOMO showing up in my own life too. We knew that when we arrived here in early January that it was going to be a period of intense focus leading up to my new Masterclass “3 Keys to Feel Productive & Awesome Every Day” (which starts TOMORROW- February 12, 2020) and the launch of the Freedom Evolution course, which I’ve been working towards for a year now.

Then, here we are in Santa Fe, a brand new place, and there’s a strong desire to explore and play! Since I know this is an experience shared by many, I want to share some of the strategies that I’ve found seriously helpful whenever FOMO starts showing up in my life.

If you’ve followed me at all for the last year, then you know I have strong opinions about the value of slow travel for making a digital nomad or location-independent lifestyle sustainable.

Slow travel is also a great way to deal with FOMO. When you’re settling into a place for several months, then there’s automatically less pressure to “do it all quickly” before you jet off to the next place. As all experienced location-independent folks will tell you, this has to be a functional lifestyle, not a perpetual vacation.

Currently, part of how I’m dealing with my own moments of FOMO is remembering that we’re here until April. Even though I’d love to spend every afternoon at a different museum wandering around (because there are SO MANY awesome art and history museums here in Santa Fe,) they will still be there in March and April after my launch has wrapped up.

I have zero question how those priorities stack up, and taking care of my community and getting this work out into the world is so much more important than an afternoon of museum wandering. So, patience and priorities make today’s path much clearer. 

Even with slow travel there will be some things that you didn’t get to experience. Maybe because it was the wrong season or there just wasn’t the “right” moment. When I think about those experiences, I simply remind myself that we can always come back! 

During our explorations over the past couple years, numerous times we’ve said to each other, “We’ll have to come back and do that once our Pumpkin is older.” She’s only 2.5 yrs old, and while I know she enjoys our adventures, she obviously can’t appreciate the fullness of this experience quite as well as she will when she’s 8, 10, or 14. Which means, that we’ve simply added to our travel Life List some return visits to places where we’ve been, knowing that the experience will be both different and potentially richer when we come back with our somewhat older daughter.

Without doubt, things are constantly changing, and the experience you’re having right now will not be the same as going in 2 years, or 5 years, or more. That doesn’t mean that it won’t be even better later! You’ll be a different you. There are places that I’ve returned to for decades and still love (like Sedona, AZ). There are other places that I loved as a child and find much less compelling as an adult (my old hometown of Cincinnati, OH for instance.)

In these cases, it’s all about replacing the “fear” from FOMO with curiosity… “I wonder what that might be like when I come back?” How will the place be different and how will you be different?

Strategy #3 – Schedule Your Fun

Strategy #4 – Use Your 5-minute Daily Plan to Know When You’ve Done “Enough”

The final strategy I’ve learned for dealing with FOMO is truly one of the best skills you can develop for your overall decision-making in life.  Always make choices intentionally, then let go of thoughts about the “path not taken.” 

I became aware of and grateful for this bit of wisdom a few years ago while watching my mother making decisions about building her house. (Hi Mom, yes, I know you’ll be reading this blog.) I watched her struggle frequently to make and commit to her decisions. Choosing which color of white paint for the walls literally was a multi-month perseveration including hours of conversation with everyone she knew or met about which option would be best.

Just when I thought she was done and the decision was made, she would find someone new to talk with about it and change her mind again. While I’m not sure that she perceived this process as a problem…*whew* it looked (and felt) exhausting! 

It was at that point that I began to appreciate how valuable it can be to develop the ability to make a choice intentionally, then simply take a breath and let go of all the alternatives. That decision is done. Unless something shows up that forces a new and different decision to be made, continuing to give it space in your mind and heart is simply eating up energy that you could be using for whatever comes next.

This strategy is essential for location-independent entrepreneurs dealing with FOMO. Because when you’re stuck looking backwards at alternatives, the other decisions that you could have made, your energy gets sucked straight down the drain. 

If you’ve been experiencing FOMO often, then consider your current decision-making strategy. How do you arrive at a decision? 

Notice what happens right after the decision has been made. Are you still looking backwards and continually weighing alternatives? Then, it’s time to install a new strategy. Every time you catch yourself ruminating about those alternatives, pause, take a deep breath, then remind yourself “I made a clear, intentional decision. Now, what’s next?” This one simple question will create a little bit of energetic space and refocus your mind on the present and future rather than that decision from the past.

Will some decisions create “lessons” and unforeseen consequences? Sure! But, all we can do is continue to make choices and course correct, if needed. If you spend all your energy looking backward and remaking the same decisions, then your enjoyment of this moment will be stifled and your ability to keep imagining a new and better future will be curtailed. Make the best choice you can in the moment, and move on. 

If you’re looking for more help with entrepreneur’s guilt and creating a clear daily plan that keeps you taking action so you don’t get stuck in FOMO, then right now is the best time to sign up for the new FREE Masterclass: 

I have no idea when I’ll be offering this training again after February 2020 (Click button below for dates and times). So, make a decision, right here and now … Are you in or out? No FOMO… just intentional decisions ;)!