FOMO – The Emotional Challenge of the Age of Abundance
Most people are familiar with the term FOMO, but most don't realize just how deeply it affects their lives. About 90% of people in developed countries, across all age groups, experience the Fear of Missing Out. Despite what you might think, FOMO isn't limited to teenagers, social media, or the frustration of watching friends have fun without us. It's much bigger than that. FOMO drives ten motivations that shape behavior today, and it is a shared factor behind more than thirty social, cultural, and consumer trends.
FOMO has become the defining emotional experience of our era.
So What Is FOMO?
FOMO, the Fear of Missing Out, is the emotional challenge of living in an age of abundance. Previous generations faced scarcity that limited their choices. We face the opposite problem: infinite options in every area of our lives.
Imagine a child standing in a candy store with ten shekels and five minutes to choose. Every piece of candy becomes a source of stress because they want them all. What should they pick? And choosing one means giving up others that are just as appealing. Picture that child's face. Wide eyes darting between the shelves. Hands reaching for several chocolates at once. An expression of distress, on the verge of tears.
That's us. Every day. Except our candy store is the entire world, and our limited resources are time, energy, money, and attention.
Financial success doesn't reduce FOMO. On the contrary, it amplifies it. The more we achieve, the more we see what else is achievable. The more doors that open, the more rooms we notice that we still haven't entered. More money actually makes financial decisions harder, not easier.
The Two Faces of FOMO
FOMO, the Fear of Missing Out, is the emotional challenge of living in an age of abundance. Previous generations faced scarcity that limited their choices. We face the opposite problem: infinite optionsFOMO challenges us, but it is not merely a negative force in our lives. On the positive side, it pushes us to live richer lives, develop ourselves, and seize opportunities we would otherwise miss. This energy drives human progress, innovation, and growth — both personally and across businesses, countries, and economies.
On the less cheerful side, FOMO is the source of the chronic dissatisfaction many of us experience. That persistent background noise of restlessness. At its core, FOMO is the fear that we are missing the opportunity to become who we can be and to live the life we want. It is the existential fear that somehow, despite everything we've done, achieved, and experienced, we are still missing out on our lives because there is still so much more.
in every area of our lives.
Imagine a child standing in a candy store with ten shekels and five minutes to choose. Every piece of candy becomes a source of stress because they want them all. What should they pick? And choosing one means giving up others that are just as appealing. Picture that child's face. Wide eyes darting between the shelves. Hands reaching for several chocolates at once. An expression of distress, on the verge of tears.
That's us. Every day. Except our candy store is the entire world, and our limited resources are time, energy, money, and attention.
Financial success doesn't reduce FOMO. On the contrary, it amplifies it. The more we achieve, the more we see what else is achievable. The more doors that open, the more rooms we notice that we still haven't entered. More money actually makes financial decisions harder, not easier.
How I Discovered FOMO
I first encountered this phenomenon in 1996 while conducting focus group research. I noticed something unusual:
Brand loyalty was disappearing, replaced by an obsession with novelty and openness to unfamiliar brands.
This observation led me to a series of studies, culminating in the publication of the first academic paper on the subject in 2001.
As early as 1997, I coined the term "Fear of Missing Out" and began using the acronym FOMO in 2002.
When I first presented the concept of "Fear of Missing Out" at a conference of the Israeli Marketing Association, three hundred participants smiled.
At that moment I understood that I had identified something important and fundamental in modern psychology.
The launch of Facebook in 2004 and the iPhone in 2007 amplified the FOMO phenomenon to unprecedented levels.
What I discovered in a room with a group of about ten people became an enormous force shaping lives and entire markets.
The Definition of FOMO
FOMO is a persistent emotional tendency to experience anxiety or fear when we think we are missing — or might miss — good experiences and opportunities to advance and improve ourselves and our lives in every sense.
And it's not about the neighbor's grass being greener, but about our own grass being able to be greener — always, in every area of life.
Four universal triggers activate our FOMO: fleeting opportunities that won't wait for us, choosing between attractive alternatives while giving up options, a reality we aspire to that remains out of reach, and aging and the general awareness that our time is limited.
FOMO Is a Complex Phenomenon
We respond to the FOMO we experience with a tendency toward one of two poles. At the "frenzy pole" we become hyperactive — trying to get everything done, seizing every opportunity, making impulsive decisions, always running but never arriving. At the "paralysis pole" we freeze or at least hesitate at length. We struggle to choose, because every potential choice means missing out on other options. In careers, relationships, and even when scheduling a meeting with friends. It's hard to commit and hard to persevere. When shopping we fill the cart but don't always check out. We buy and return. Always wondering if something better is out there.
Most of us move between these two poles and tend one way or the other at different times, though each of us has a pole we lean toward more.
We differ in what activates our FOMO. Some fear missing a career advancement. Others fear missing unique experiences or deep relationships. Our personal hierarchy of what matters shapes our individual FOMO profile.
FOMO in the Business World
FOMO changes the way organizations operate. Senior executives operate in a frenzy of initiatives, reactions to competitors' moves, adoption of new technologies, announcements of change processes — and struggle to maintain a consistent and clear strategy. Employees learn to present every opportunity as urgent, every trend as threatening. Meetings become competitions over who raises the most pressing issues we might miss. Strategic blur replaces strategic focus. Or — managers become hesitant and struggle to choose a direction. The CEO's type of FOMO shapes the organizational culture.
Employees' FOMO manifests as constant anxiety about whether they're in the right place, advancing at the right pace, involved in the right projects. Issues connected to organizational belonging and much of the overload and stress in daily work stem from FOMO.
And customers? Their FOMO is both a marketing and service challenge — but also a huge opportunity.
Methods I Developed in Marketing and Branding
Over the years I have developed methods to leverage FOMO for marketing success. Here are two of them: The FOMO-Flip Branding method enables the development of brands that customers feel they cannot afford to miss. The Think-Short Branding method enables the achievement of rapid marketing successes and is particularly useful when marketing new models, trend products and seasonal products, events such as shows, sporting events, festivals, conferences and exhibitions, real estate projects, fundraising campaigns, and more.
You Can't Eliminate FOMO (And It's Not Worth Trying)
Some suggest JOMO (Joy of Missing Out) as a remedy. But research shows that JOMO doesn't really exist. Others recommend artificially limiting our opportunities and disconnecting digitally. These are not practical solutions. We don't truly want them.
The solutions are different.
FOMO is reactive — it is a response. The solution is developing proactivity. This means creating clarity around our values, goals, and strategy — in life and in business. In addition, reminding ourselves of the importance and value of what we have and of the alternatives we choose. And also practicing presence — learning to truly be where we are. These principles are just the tip of the iceberg. There are structured methods and processes that can help.
The most effective people I work with deliberately choose opportunities and fully maximize them. They have learned to listen to FOMO as an opportunity-identifying mechanism, examine those opportunities against their priorities, and then use the insights to focus their attention — rather than scatter it.
The Real Opportunity
Our FOMO isn't going anywhere. It is wired deep in our brain, triggering the release of dopamine and other hormones and activating the amygdala, which identifies the loss of options and opportunities as an existential threat. But we can change our response — and use FOMO as a compass and as a positive, motivating force.