August 5, 2025 • 16 mins
If you’ve ever felt behind — like you’re missing something, falling short, or watching everyone else pass you by — you’re not alone. This episode is for the overachievers, the self-doubters, and the quietly exhausted. Let’s talk about FOMO, pressure, comparison, and learning to breathe in a world that never hits pause
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Do you ever feel like, no matter how much you do,
it's still somehow not enough. And to make it worse,
everyone on line is doing yoga on a mountain, running
three businesses, and somehow unbothered. Yep, this one's for the
ones who feel like they're falling behind. Or if you're
(00:33):
anything like me and you live in a state that
has fifteen minutes of summer and it's sunny outside and
you're inside doing something enjoying yourself, and you feel like
you should be outside doing something enjoying yourself. Yep, welcome.
We're in it together, baby. Today's topic is going to
(00:54):
be fomo tony romo just rhymes. No, it's not just
fomo fear of missing out. Question of the day for
each of you. Am I doing enough? Are you doing enough?
What does that mean? Are you? If you ever have
(01:16):
thoughts that sound like this, you should be further ahead.
You're wasting time. Everyone else is doing more. Get outside.
If cats can do it, can ignore the last one,
then you're just like me. Those cross my mind too.
(01:41):
Let's break it down that constant need, desire, necessity to
compare yourself. It's in all of us. We all have
it every day I'm right there. I see a friend,
or you're a bird flying, or a family member gets married,
(02:04):
or something happens that is more than the average day
spices me up a bit. I want to get up
and do something, but then I feel down because I
can't or haven't. There's the guilt of resting. Yeah, that's
(02:25):
a big one for me. I have this innate craving
to constantly be doing something productive or I'm I guess,
doing nothing at all, regardless of what that is, even
if I'm doing it for me. Do you have that?
There's that panic moment of seeing seeing someone on the
(02:49):
timeline winning or doing something wonderful and your win hasn't
quite come yet. You're happy for them, you support them,
but you haven't gotten yours yet. And even those good
days that we all have right those like for example,
today I fixed a couple of doors in my house.
(03:10):
One of the locks was stuck. I fixed it, forgot
about the other one. I don't know what happened with it. See,
but I know I fix two of them. And even
doing those two things, they don't seem significant enough to me.
But that's why we're here talking about it today. I
(03:34):
think Fomo has always been there, but it has certainly
been magnified by the Internet, by social media. You can't
look out your window and see someone from a neighboring
state doing something that you want to be able to do.
If you can do that, let me know. There are
things that I want to see from my house that
(03:55):
I can't. I want to see if the red light
is on at the donut shop, I can't see that
from my house. But social media really magnifies it, doesn't it.
It's tough. We live in a tough world right now. Well,
(04:16):
I guess we've lived in a tough world for the
last however many years with social media, just seeing where
everyone else is at, not recognizing how far along we've come.
And again, watching people succeed is we're so happy for them,
but what about us? What about me? What about you?
(04:40):
It often draws this illusion of constant progress from everyone else.
And I know, just like you all, I've seen the
same thing of folks that fake social media posts to
give this perception that they're moving along at a much
quicker rate than us. Don't buy into it. It's true
that they're faking it. But back in the day, whatever
(05:04):
day that was, we never used to know what everyone
else was doing in every moment. Now we see a
twenty four to seven, filtered and perfectly timed And that's tough. Man.
It's tough to know more than just about your neighbor
(05:27):
as usual. Let me give you an example of how
I'm experiencing this fomo effect. My small example is exactly
as I mentioned. I live in a state where it
feels like summer is here had gone within fifteen seconds.
So every day that comes and goes, I feel guilty
if I'm not outside doing something because in the wintertime,
(05:48):
oh boy, that snow is relentless, that wind, that cold,
It is no fun. I hate it even now that
I'm talking about it. It makes me mad. But those days,
even if I've been productive on the inside of the home,
I'm still I still feel guilty. I still feel like
(06:09):
I haven't done anything. That's tough. It's a tough feeling.
Or a bigger example would be my career. I really
feel like I should be further along looking at where
my friends are from high school folks, I went to
high school with college family. But what we need to remember,
(06:32):
what I need to remind myself is who and what
and why and when and all of those other W
words am I comparing myself to? What am I going
to get out of it? Nothing but misery, sorrow and
feeling like I am not making progress every single day.
And that's not a good spot to get stuck in.
(06:55):
Let's talk through some reminders, some helpful items on the agenda.
Rest without guilt is productive. Why well, We need to
sleep at night for many health reasons, same thing with
resting throughout the day. Our brain is not wired to
(07:18):
move and think and operate twenty four seven three sixty five.
Our body is not operating, is not designed to operate
that way. Rest brings us back to a homeostasis effect,
back to where we can operate a one hundred percent capacity.
(07:40):
Intentional reminders are another thing that I do for myself.
We're not on the clock. We're only on our own clock.
This isn't the NFL draft. We're not going to lose
out on something if we don't act right now. I
mean sometimes right lottery is one example. But our progress
(08:06):
is our progress. We all deal with different demons, different guideline,
different obstacles, different speed boosts, and we shouldn't be comparing
ourselves so relentlessly, so closely with everyone else. Here are
(08:29):
some suggestions. I don't like the word unfollowing people, but
we need to unplug ourselves from situations that cause us
to feel this way consistently. It's good to have the motivation,
it's good to desire a higher outcome. But if something
(08:52):
is causing you anxiety and stress simply because someone is
constantly posting wins, do what you gotta do. Unfollow them,
get off the social media. What is the other thing?
You can mute them? So strange that they mute someone
(09:13):
on social media as if they were making a sound,
but mute them. My favorite that I do with both
my career and my personal life is keep a list
of accomplishments or a proof list, something that you can
write down that everything that you've done matters and exists.
(09:37):
You'll be shocked, appalled, and in awe of all of
the items you've actually been able to do. And once again,
like anything else, is it going to seem monumental the
first five minutes that you write them down in the home,
give it a couple of weeks. You're going to see
how many things you're doing daily, weekly, and if you're not,
maybe you use that as a motivation. But try that out.
(10:03):
And that voice we spoke about, that strange, strangly voice.
We began this episode with, tell it to go run
up a mountain or something with a with a sledgehammer,
I don't know, but talk back to it, ask it,
(10:25):
what if I'm not behind? What if I'm exactly where
I need to be right now? Answer that voice. As
silly as that sounds, it's the truth. There are so
many things in life that we speed through and don't acknowledge,
(10:53):
and we need to. There are a lot of winds
throughout the day, and they could be as simple as
you driving your car. Someone cuts you off and you
don't give them one of the five fingers you have
in your hand. That's a win. We are instinctually wired
to react, and if you didn't react, good for you.
(11:15):
That's a win. Do you drink some water today, here's
a win. Start small. That's going to get you where
you need to go, where you need to be, where
you need to feel. Filmo Man. It's tough, but much
(11:36):
like a lot of the topics we have and will
discuss on this pod podcast seem too long of a word.
There's a positive and a negative to it. It is
what we make it. One of the quotes that I
came up with trademarked if you will, it isn't what
(11:56):
happens to you, it's how you react to it. It's
true we have a human reaction everything. But if you
can train yourself to not react with extreme intensity and
emotion and use it as fuel, gas fire, all of it,
flammable things theoretically, hypothetically, and you're well in your way.
(12:24):
All right, let's close her out today with a reminder.
You're not behind, You're building something. What do they say,
Rome wasn't built in a day. If you've ever gone
to the gym and you gave up on day one,
(12:48):
but you see all these folks who are muscular, in shape, fit, athletic,
they didn't give up on day one. Keep going. Use
what you don't have as fuel to gain things that
you want. I mentioned in a prior episode that something
that makes me happy is going and getting a slurpee
(13:10):
from seven to eleven from a gas station. It's the
truth seven eleven. If you want to sponsor this podcast,
let me know. But that may not make you happy.
Find out what makes you happy. Do that because your friends,
(13:33):
your Facebook, Friends, progress, your progress two totally separate things.
Remember that. And if you honestly do feel like you
have some room to move, room to grow, ask yourself,
where do you feel like you're not doing enough? And
what if that's just a lie that I've absorbed and
(13:56):
it's not the truth. And if you can prove if
it's not a lie, well then go do that thing.
Find a way you will do it. And hey, I'll
make you a deal if you find out that you
are in fact behind, Bring some snacks. I'll be there waiting.
(14:16):
I'm always hungry. Thanks for joining today, everyone, and I
appreciate the time. I appreciate the ratings. Thank you. Still
working on some social media things, trying to figure out
what is happening in this world. Shoot me an email,
give me some topic suggestions, whatever you need. I'd love
to discuss some options. Give me a follow on Instagram,
(14:42):
Still Standing Strong, podcast, Twitter or ex same thing, Add
a comment, do something to help me along so that
we can we can find our way together. But as always,
let's end strong because we're still standing. That is, we're
(15:04):
still standing strong. Take care,
Do you ever feel like, no matter how much you do,
it's still somehow not enough. And to make it worse,
everyone on line is doing yoga on a mountain, running
three businesses, and somehow unbothered. Yep, this one's for the
ones who feel like they're falling behind. Or if you're
(00:33):
anything like me and you live in a state that
has fifteen minutes of summer and it's sunny outside and
you're inside doing something enjoying yourself, and you feel like
you should be outside doing something enjoying yourself. Yep, welcome.
We're in it together, baby. Today's topic is going to
(00:54):
be fomo tony romo just rhymes. No, it's not just
fomo fear of missing out. Question of the day for
each of you. Am I doing enough? Are you doing enough?
What does that mean? Are you? If you ever have
(01:16):
thoughts that sound like this, you should be further ahead.
You're wasting time. Everyone else is doing more. Get outside.
If cats can do it, can ignore the last one,
then you're just like me. Those cross my mind too.
(01:41):
Let's break it down that constant need, desire, necessity to
compare yourself. It's in all of us. We all have
it every day I'm right there. I see a friend,
or you're a bird flying, or a family member gets married,
(02:04):
or something happens that is more than the average day
spices me up a bit. I want to get up
and do something, but then I feel down because I
can't or haven't. There's the guilt of resting. Yeah, that's
(02:25):
a big one for me. I have this innate craving
to constantly be doing something productive or I'm I guess,
doing nothing at all, regardless of what that is, even
if I'm doing it for me. Do you have that?
There's that panic moment of seeing seeing someone on the
(02:49):
timeline winning or doing something wonderful and your win hasn't
quite come yet. You're happy for them, you support them,
but you haven't gotten yours yet. And even those good
days that we all have right those like for example,
today I fixed a couple of doors in my house.
(03:10):
One of the locks was stuck. I fixed it, forgot
about the other one. I don't know what happened with it. See,
but I know I fix two of them. And even
doing those two things, they don't seem significant enough to me.
But that's why we're here talking about it today. I
(03:34):
think Fomo has always been there, but it has certainly
been magnified by the Internet, by social media. You can't
look out your window and see someone from a neighboring
state doing something that you want to be able to do.
If you can do that, let me know. There are
things that I want to see from my house that
(03:55):
I can't. I want to see if the red light
is on at the donut shop, I can't see that
from my house. But social media really magnifies it, doesn't it.
It's tough. We live in a tough world right now. Well,
(04:16):
I guess we've lived in a tough world for the
last however many years with social media, just seeing where
everyone else is at, not recognizing how far along we've come.
And again, watching people succeed is we're so happy for them,
but what about us? What about me? What about you?
(04:40):
It often draws this illusion of constant progress from everyone else.
And I know, just like you all, I've seen the
same thing of folks that fake social media posts to
give this perception that they're moving along at a much
quicker rate than us. Don't buy into it. It's true
that they're faking it. But back in the day, whatever
(05:04):
day that was, we never used to know what everyone
else was doing in every moment. Now we see a
twenty four to seven, filtered and perfectly timed And that's tough. Man.
It's tough to know more than just about your neighbor
(05:27):
as usual. Let me give you an example of how
I'm experiencing this fomo effect. My small example is exactly
as I mentioned. I live in a state where it
feels like summer is here had gone within fifteen seconds.
So every day that comes and goes, I feel guilty
if I'm not outside doing something because in the wintertime,
(05:48):
oh boy, that snow is relentless, that wind, that cold,
It is no fun. I hate it even now that
I'm talking about it. It makes me mad. But those days,
even if I've been productive on the inside of the home,
I'm still I still feel guilty. I still feel like
(06:09):
I haven't done anything. That's tough. It's a tough feeling.
Or a bigger example would be my career. I really
feel like I should be further along looking at where
my friends are from high school folks, I went to
high school with college family. But what we need to remember,
(06:32):
what I need to remind myself is who and what
and why and when and all of those other W
words am I comparing myself to? What am I going
to get out of it? Nothing but misery, sorrow and
feeling like I am not making progress every single day.
And that's not a good spot to get stuck in.
(06:55):
Let's talk through some reminders, some helpful items on the agenda.
Rest without guilt is productive. Why well, We need to
sleep at night for many health reasons, same thing with
resting throughout the day. Our brain is not wired to
(07:18):
move and think and operate twenty four seven three sixty five.
Our body is not operating, is not designed to operate
that way. Rest brings us back to a homeostasis effect,
back to where we can operate a one hundred percent capacity.
(07:40):
Intentional reminders are another thing that I do for myself.
We're not on the clock. We're only on our own clock.
This isn't the NFL draft. We're not going to lose
out on something if we don't act right now. I
mean sometimes right lottery is one example. But our progress
(08:06):
is our progress. We all deal with different demons, different guideline,
different obstacles, different speed boosts, and we shouldn't be comparing
ourselves so relentlessly, so closely with everyone else. Here are
(08:29):
some suggestions. I don't like the word unfollowing people, but
we need to unplug ourselves from situations that cause us
to feel this way consistently. It's good to have the motivation,
it's good to desire a higher outcome. But if something
(08:52):
is causing you anxiety and stress simply because someone is
constantly posting wins, do what you gotta do. Unfollow them,
get off the social media. What is the other thing?
You can mute them? So strange that they mute someone
(09:13):
on social media as if they were making a sound,
but mute them. My favorite that I do with both
my career and my personal life is keep a list
of accomplishments or a proof list, something that you can
write down that everything that you've done matters and exists.
(09:37):
You'll be shocked, appalled, and in awe of all of
the items you've actually been able to do. And once again,
like anything else, is it going to seem monumental the
first five minutes that you write them down in the home,
give it a couple of weeks. You're going to see
how many things you're doing daily, weekly, and if you're not,
maybe you use that as a motivation. But try that out.
(10:03):
And that voice we spoke about, that strange, strangly voice.
We began this episode with, tell it to go run
up a mountain or something with a with a sledgehammer,
I don't know, but talk back to it, ask it,
(10:25):
what if I'm not behind? What if I'm exactly where
I need to be right now? Answer that voice. As
silly as that sounds, it's the truth. There are so
many things in life that we speed through and don't acknowledge,
(10:53):
and we need to. There are a lot of winds
throughout the day, and they could be as simple as
you driving your car. Someone cuts you off and you
don't give them one of the five fingers you have
in your hand. That's a win. We are instinctually wired
to react, and if you didn't react, good for you.
(11:15):
That's a win. Do you drink some water today, here's
a win. Start small. That's going to get you where
you need to go, where you need to be, where
you need to feel. Filmo Man. It's tough, but much
(11:36):
like a lot of the topics we have and will
discuss on this pod podcast seem too long of a word.
There's a positive and a negative to it. It is
what we make it. One of the quotes that I
came up with trademarked if you will, it isn't what
(11:56):
happens to you, it's how you react to it. It's
true we have a human reaction everything. But if you
can train yourself to not react with extreme intensity and
emotion and use it as fuel, gas fire, all of it,
flammable things theoretically, hypothetically, and you're well in your way.
(12:24):
All right, let's close her out today with a reminder.
You're not behind, You're building something. What do they say,
Rome wasn't built in a day. If you've ever gone
to the gym and you gave up on day one,
(12:48):
but you see all these folks who are muscular, in shape, fit, athletic,
they didn't give up on day one. Keep going. Use
what you don't have as fuel to gain things that
you want. I mentioned in a prior episode that something
that makes me happy is going and getting a slurpee
(13:10):
from seven to eleven from a gas station. It's the
truth seven eleven. If you want to sponsor this podcast,
let me know. But that may not make you happy.
Find out what makes you happy. Do that because your friends,
(13:33):
your Facebook, Friends, progress, your progress two totally separate things.
Remember that. And if you honestly do feel like you
have some room to move, room to grow, ask yourself,
where do you feel like you're not doing enough? And
what if that's just a lie that I've absorbed and
(13:56):
it's not the truth. And if you can prove if
it's not a lie, well then go do that thing.
Find a way you will do it. And hey, I'll
make you a deal if you find out that you
are in fact behind, Bring some snacks. I'll be there waiting.
(14:16):
I'm always hungry. Thanks for joining today, everyone, and I
appreciate the time. I appreciate the ratings. Thank you. Still
working on some social media things, trying to figure out
what is happening in this world. Shoot me an email,
give me some topic suggestions, whatever you need. I'd love
to discuss some options. Give me a follow on Instagram,
(14:42):
Still Standing Strong, podcast, Twitter or ex same thing, Add
a comment, do something to help me along so that
we can we can find our way together. But as always,
let's end strong because we're still standing. That is, we're
(15:04):
still standing strong. Take care,
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