How My FOMO Slowly Lost Its Power By 2026

There was a time when FOMO controlled my thoughts more than I like to admit. It wasn’t loud or dramatic—it was quiet, constant, and exhausting. It sat in the background of my mind while I tried to move forward, reminding me that others were getting ahead while I felt stuck.

By 2026, that feeling has reduced a lot. Not because life suddenly worked out, but because I was forced to confront things most people don’t talk about—rejection, isolation, and the slow erosion of confidence.

When life didn’t go as planned

Some of my biggest setbacks came in the form of multiple visa refusals and long periods of uncertainty. I was fully prepared for everything. Yet somehow, I was standing at the same point where I started from. On paper, they were just decisions. In reality, they felt like doors closing on a future I had already imagined.

Each refusal didn’t just delay plans—it disturbed my sense of direction. I started questioning myself:

Was I not good enough?

Did I waste time?

Did I miss my window?

While I was trying to recover, life around me didn’t pause.

Watching others move ahead while I stayed still

This is where FOMO hit the hardest.

I saw people I once stood beside:

Moving abroad

Settling into careers

Building financial security

Rewriting milestones I couldn’t relate to

And I was… still here. Waiting. Replanning. Explaining delays again and again.

Being alone during this phase made it worse. When you’re isolated, your mind becomes loud. Every success you see online feels personal, even when it isn’t meant to be.

I wasn’t just missing out—I felt like I was being left behind.

How loneliness amplified everything

Loneliness didn’t mean I had no people around me. Everyone was supportive in its own way. But the self loss I had. It made me feel empty inside. No piece of advice or words were playing any role. Because of this I was falling apart. Any step I took, led me to the place where I was already standing, but it came with loss of time, effort, patience and money.

It meant I had no one who truly understood what being stuck felt like.

In those quiet moments:

I overthought every decision I ever made

I replayed old choices, wondering where I went wrong

I compared my worst moments to other people’s best highlights

FOMO fed on that silence.

The moment I realized I was being unfair to myself

But one day sitting alone. I finally broke down the things which were like a burden on my head.

Slowly, painfully, I understood something important: I was judging my progress without accounting for my disruptions. Although these failures were not replaceable, I realized that I’ve learned things which I might have not learned if I had not passed from this phase in life. Though making myself understand this was way more difficult than speaking. But somehow I still managed. The thing that played the major role is the “Realization and Acceptance”

Visa refusals weren’t just obstacles—they reshaped my timeline.

But I kept comparing myself to people whose timelines were uninterrupted.

That comparison was deeply unfair.

Once I accepted this, something softened inside me. I stopped treating my life like it was late or broken. I started seeing it as delayed, not denied.

Letting go of the rush

At some point, chasing speed stopped making sense. The faster I tried to move to get to the point I wanted to. The more I slipped into the trap. Nights of anxiety, sleeplessness and fear made me a living hell.

I was tired of feeling like I had to “catch up”

Tired of rushing decisions just to feel relevant again.

So I slowed down.

I focused on stability instead of acceleration. Now I just sit, look and understand the things happening around me and see how these can help me become a better man.

I chose clarity over chaos. Stability over rush.

That’s when FOMO started losing its grip.

Learning to sit with being alone

I didn’t magically stop being alone—but I stopped letting loneliness define my worth.

I built structure into my days.

I focused on small, controllable progress.

I stopped scrolling when I felt emotionally weak.

Over time, I learned this: Being alone doesn’t mean you’re behind.

Sometimes it means you’re rebuilding.

What actually helped me heal from FOMO

These weren’t motivational tricks. They were survival tools:

Reducing social media during emotionally low periods

Accepting rest as recovery, not laziness

Focusing on one direction instead of multiple exits

Allowing myself to grieve the plans that didn’t work out

Healing started when I stopped pretending everything was fine.

I looked for my interests and started to pursue them.

I started learning Japanese so I can be more skilled.

Where I stand in 2026

By 2026, my FOMO hasn’t disappeared—but it no longer controls me.

I don’t panic when I see others moving faster.

I don’t question my worth after every delay.

I don’t measure my life by someone else’s timeline.

Although it still lingers with me and I get disturbed… But deep inside I’m more self aware and stable. I’ve started to look at things in a new way. I started to look at the learnings I got from the failures. Everyone says failures teach a person. But no one wants to be a failure. Once you come to know about reality, you start to understand that it’s the process of life which makes you move forward and deal with problems in a better way.

Instead of asking:

“Why is everyone ahead of me?”

I ask:

“Given everything I’ve been through, what does steady progress look like now?”

And that question feels honest.

It feels grounding.

It feels like peace.

For anyone reading this who feels stuck

If you’re going through delays, refusals, isolation, or silent battles—please know this:

You’re not late.

You’re not broken.

You’re adapting.

And sometimes, survival itself is progress.