In an era that seems deprived of many joys, the one we call the JOMO movement may be one of the healthiest we can find or, more precisely, develop. What is it about?
JOMO is the acronym for a term that we could associate with positive psychology and to which we should pay some attention: Joy Of Missing Out—but missing out on what? I am missing out on anything else I am not doing now due to my decisions, circumstances, and personal capabilities, no matter how magnificent the alternatives may appear.
What does the JOMO movement really mean?
It is often spoken of as a movement, in the same way as if we were talking about a fashion or lifestyle that many people embrace as a reaction to something previous that no longer serves them or makes them uncomfortable.
That previous something would be FOMO, that is, the fear of missing out: a kind of existential angst that comes over us when we contemplate -primarily through social media– the fascinating lives of others and feel that our own reality, in comparison, is miserable and then we would want to be living each and every one of the lives of others instead of experiencing our own as it is.
The JOMO movement: a positive emotion
What is more, on a psychological level, is that we can cultivate, in the same way, that we could abandon ourselves to fear, anguish, or the feeling of having miserable lives compared to the other possible lives that we could have and that others teach us. In this sense, the reaction to FOMO would be what we now call the JOMO movement: instead of fear, joy. It is probably not so much a social movement in the strict sense but, as its very name indicates, an emotion we can feel.
Appreciating what you have
The joy of missing out would fit within the group of positive emotions (those that are experienced as pleasurable) and can have a profound implication.
This way, we could understand it as the satisfaction that comes from appreciating what we have, what we do, and where we are without the ambition to change it or replace it with another without being misled by its value. The pleasure that is experienced when we perceive that the place where we are and the activity in which we are involved are right and do not need to be otherwise. We are where we have to be, and it is okay.
In short, the JOMO movement is the joy of missing something, as if we feel relief or pleasure in not living specific experiences. In other senses, it could also be understood as the relief of not necessarily having to live those experiences to feel satisfied with our lives and ourselves since that necessity would be lived as an obligation that pressures us. Therefore, the joy of missing out on that helps me to focus on the present moment and savor it.
Three ways to nurture our JOMO
1. A realistic view of life
It is essential to have a realistic and slightly distorted perception of what we call “life”, in general, to avoid over-dimensioning the nature of the experiences we can have and thereby avoid falling into unnecessary stress and frustration.
It is healthy, therefore, to maintain a realistic view of life according to our capabilities: we only have 24 hours a day, we only have one body, we only have one life, and we cannot live each and every possible experience no matter how much we feel like it and no matter how within our reach they may seem to be.
2. A critical view of others’ lives
What we call JOMO and FOMO are closely linked to the interpretation we make of the lives of others. We often feel envious of what others do when they tell us about it, or we see it through social media. Part of that envy is caused by making a distorted judgment of what we see: we take for granted that what we see is the only reality, forgetting that it is only a very select and limited part of that reality.
When we broaden the focus and put things in their actual context, their lives are not so perfect, they don’t have to make us so envious, and we can appreciate more what we have.
3. A critical view of our own life
It is vital to cultivate a critical, equanimous, and human vision of our existence without despising it unnecessarily and without mythologizing it. It is a matter of obtaining a balanced and fair interpretation of the experiences we achieve, the activities we carry out, and the things that happen to us so that they do not always appear as little when we compare them with those of others.
The JOMO movement in the professional field
Since there is no strict boundary between our professional side and the other areas of our lives, it is expected that emotions such as FOMO or JOMO also end up appearing associated with our role as workers.
This way, we can introduce a healthy “joy of missing out” into our work. This joy has to do with our job satisfaction, the ability to appreciate in its proper measure the work we have and the professional development we have achieved so far, being grateful for the opportunities we have been given, and taking pride in the achievements and skills we have attained as workers.
Its opposite, linked to FOMO, would be the discomfort derived from the desire to work in another company, another role, and other functions and responsibilities. The unfulfilled desire to embark on a new professional career, the anguish of checking all possible paths that could have been undertaken and are no longer possible. Or those that could be conducted and are still possible but would be necessary to give up the current situation.
Caring for emotional well-being in organizations
At ifeel, we want to help companies foster joy and not fear in their employees. To go in that direction, our team of psychologists, experts in well-being at work, has created an emotional well-being program for companies designed for the whole team, including Human Resources managers.
These managers perform a job that significantly influences the company’s ultimate results. That’s why, through our service, they can receive personalized, data-driven advice on improving the psychological well-being of the teams in their charge. Are you also part of your organization’s Human Resources department? Try our program now to see how it could help you.
In addition, we offer all employees a complete mental health care service from which they can benefit in different ways depending on their needs, including the possibility of online therapy with one of our psychologists or interacting with that professional to receive emotional support in a more specific circumstance that concerns them.
You can, of course, find different materials in our Resources section, such as podcasts, HR Guides on various topics (e.g., employee experience or how to design a good HR strategy), or Interviews with key HR managers. In addition, we have a Psychosocial Risk Factors Template, which you can use to comply with the requirements of the Labor Inspection.
I hope you found this post about the JOMO movement interesting. If you would like more information about our emotional well-being program for companies, simply request it, and we will contact your team as soon as possible.
