The latest crypto news regularly features articles with titles such as “LUNA price suddenly rises by 300% in possible FOMO chain reaction” or “Bitcoin price at major supportwill retail FOMO finally return?”
FOMO, or Fear Of Missing Out, plays mainly during a bull market. It may be only a matter of time until the market is bulls is. Prepare for this period when you are sensitive to FOMO by reading this column!
peer pressure
Humans are group animals by nature and, from an evolutionary point of view, depend on group members for their survival. Some needs are difficult to achieve on your own. Try building a sturdy hut of branches, straw and clay on your own. Not so easy! To be able to work together successfully, you will have to have and maintain respect for each other.
If there is insufficient respect from the group, an individual risks expulsion from the group, resulting in a greater chance of death and a smaller chance of passing on DNA. This need for respect is deeply ingrained in our DNA and will also be triggered regularly in the here and now.
Social networks
There are more social triggers in life today than ever before. News is continuously arriving on our smartphone, friends share all kinds of interesting or not but positive information via social networks. We wonder why our lives are less successful than others and feel an increased need to share positive news with the group. After all, people have to get a positive impression of us.
This means that a spiral is created in which more and more emphasis is placed on being “successful and happy”. This creates inflation of the concepts of “success” and “happiness” (these concepts are eroded and superficial). Also, the strength to tolerate mistakes and bad feelings decreases. Roughly speaking, we as humans are becoming increasingly sensitive to shame. We come to think that success is a choice and that if you are not rich or happy, you are a loser and more importantly, you fear being seen as a loser.
What is FOMO?
As human beings we are all control freaks based on the above principles. We constantly compare ourselves with others and try to avoid deviating too much from the average. Deviation evokes a sense of danger.
There is too much information to keep track of and we often experience a lack of control. This leads to an increase in anxiety. We call this fear the Fear Of Missing Out. To compensate for anxiety, we continuously check our WhatsApp, Facebook, favorite news pages and quotes.
FOMO among bitcoin investors
Since you are reading this column, we assume that you compare yourself to the average crypto investor and there is a good chance that you talk a lot with others about crypto. In this group too, successes are mainly shared and the pressure to share successes is increasing. It can’t be the case that you are the only one who makes less than average profit or has too few coins with great potential in your portfolio?!
Even though you probably aren’t aware of it, it drives your behavior. Before you know it, you’ll find yourself buried deep in your smartphone again in an attempt to increase your profits, compulsively steal coins. stack or try to extract your knowledge from an expert.
How do you reduce nervousness from FOMO?
Most importantly, you will realize that, like anyone else with FOMO, you experience deep down fear of not being successful enough. Once you know you’re feeling anxious, you have a choice: you can choose to give in to the fear (keep comparing yourself to others, keep looking for that one great coin to impress your friends too) but of course we hope that you choose to accept that the best strategy is that you realize that the degree of success of someone else is often in reality a lot less than it seems and that you do it better than you think.
Take a look at what you have already achieved and dare to be proud of yourself. Dare to deviate from the crowd using classic stock market wisdom such as “be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful” used. Successful investors often do the exact opposite of the average. Turn your thinking around and think: “I am unique and that is why I do it well!”
