GETTING OVER FOMO AND FINDING BALANCE 

Oh FOMO. 

I’ve spent so many years saying “yes” and piling so much on my plate because I was afraid to say “no.” I was afraid to miss out. Afraid of missed opportunities. Afraid of feeling left out. A lot of this stemmed from my lack of confidence and thankfully, growing up has helped me a lot in that department. Traveling alone is something that has really pushed me out of my comfort zone and gain that confidence and independence I was missing. It made me realize growing up really isn’t so bad.

When I first became a flight attendant, I would spread myself so thin and got very little rest. I put myself second. Coming to realize that has been one of the most life changing thing. Self care is so important, especially with a big life change, for me being my career. I no longer sat in a cubicle working a 9 to 5. Instead, I was getting called at 3am to work a flight at 5am to Alaska when I was packed for Hawaii. I learned a lot and I’ve grown a lot. My layovers (aka rest time) were spent out adventuring. Some of my highlights being: visiting a bald eagle wildlife sanctuary in Sitka, running 8.5 miles around all of Central Park, seeing the White House, visiting ground zero, watching Aladdin on Broadway, going to Disneyland, going to a hot springs in Fairbanks, the list goes on. I am SO incredibly lucky to experience these things and I’m grateful for the memories I’ve made. However, waking up at 2am PST to workout before spending an entire day in DC wandering aimlessly? It’s unlikely I’ll do that again. Balance is so important in every day life, especially when your job is taxing on your body and your sleep schedule is whack. Sometimes you have to learn how to be selfish and care for yourself so you can be your best self.

PRACTICE LISTENING TO YOUR BODY

Being mindful and listening to your body is not an easy thing to do! For some people it might be, but for someone like me who’s always on the go, I had to learn how to take it a step at a time. I started practicing listening to my body after tuning into several podcasts discussing exercise. I felt so burnt out with my HIIT workouts. Not only that, but I was bored of the routine. So I practiced listening to my body by incorporating yoga and allowing myself to practice whenever I felt burnt out. Along with mindful exercise, I also started practicing mindful eating. How many times do you catch yourself snacking just to snack? That was me! I couldn’t stop. I needed a snack if I was bored or if I was watching something on Netflix. It was ridiculous. I’ve noticed a drastic difference in my health since I’ve started mindful eating. I literally ask myself if I’m hungry before I reach for a snack. It’s helped a lot and it’s honestly a mental game most of the time. Love yourself. Rest when you need to. Eat when you’re hungry. Treat yourself how you treat your best friend.

MAKE A LIST

Organizing your thoughts and prioritizing tasks will help you come up with a loose game plan. Keyword: LOOSE. Having a game plan will save you so much time. No zig zagging around town or wandering around aimlessly – unless, of course, that’s what you want to do! It’s really important when making this list to not hold yourself accountable for crossing it all off. I used to do this and it would lead to disappointment. Instead, change your mindset. Allow yourself to change things up and to be spontaneous if that’s how the day goes. Think of how grateful you are to be there in the first place. Enjoy living in the moment and take it all in. Know that quality time is so much more meaningful than the quantity of things you’ve done or seen. Plus, there’s always a next time! If you want to make it happen, it will happen.

TAKE BREAKS

When I was in Stockholm, I learned of a term called “fika.” It means taking a break, usually a snack or coffee break. This was a pretty common thing in Sweden. The coffeeshops were always packed with people and I felt so inspired by it. Now when I travel, I always fit in some time for fika. Whenever I feel myself feeling exhausted, I let myself drop into a coffeeshop and sit with a coffee or tea in hand and just relax. It’s a little reset for the mind, body, and soul. Now, I find myself finding the importance in taking time for myself to take breaks – even if it’s just to breathe deep and slow down.

BE PRESENT

When you’re tackling a long list of things (fun or not), it’s hard to be present. My best friend Abby and I shared the same experience whenever we went on our Disney trips. We’d come back to our hotel and feel like the day just flew by and we felt in a daze. Like we weren’t even there. The next day, I decided we would take “moments.” In these moments, we’d hold hands (optional but also necessary as she’s the yin to my yang), take a deep breath, and do a 360 turn around, absorbing the moment and letting it all sink in. After practicing being present, we noticed a drastic change at the end of the day. Our hearts were so full. We felt present and our memories were more vivid. Don’t forget to take moments for yourself, to take a deep breath, and absorb it all.

STOP MULTITASKING

If you think about it, multitasking requires a lot of attention and effort. It’s extremely difficult to give every task your all versus working on things one at a time. When you’re able to give something your full attention, you’ll be surprised at the result. You might find that you’ll enjoy the movie more or that the cupcakes turned out better than they did last time. Slowing down is not always a bad thing!

BE OKAY WITH SAYING “NO”

Saying “no” isn’t always easy. It took me years to be okay with the thought of disappointing people (BTW – YOU’RE NOT). It’s common flight crews will go out to dinner and drinks together after a long flight and my immediate response was always “yes.” Partly because I didn’t want them to think I didn’t like them and also because I didn’t want to feel like I missed out the next day when it clearly seemed like they had a fun night of bonding. Also because it wasn’t in my nature to say no, I was a “yes girl!” If that’s what you’re thinking too, stop that. Do not hold yourself accountable for saying “yes” ALL THE TIME. It is so important to give your body what it needs. If you don’t feel like socializing after a hard day, don’t force yourself to. You don’t owe it to anybody, you don’t even owe it to yourself. Happiness is listening to your body and being confident in your own decisions.

In the most recent bonus episode of the Soul on Fire podcast, Jordan and Kelly Leveque brush on the topic of FOMO. It’s a really good listen and I found it so relatable. If you’re wanting more FOMO talk, go check it out! Until next time, loves.