Who the HECK are the Joneses and WHY are you "keeping up" with them?

Do you ever get the feeling that everyone else is just doing WAY better at, well, LIFE than you? I’m pretty sure it isn’t hard to feel that way. Especially with social media and everyone posting about all the positive and exciting things they do.  Friend #1 is going out to eat at all these fancy restaurants and friend #2 is always travelling… Then don’t forget about Friend #3 who just got married or friend #4 who had a baby.

Seeing all these posts about people’s adventures – or even just hanging out with people who want to go out to fancy clubs/restaurants and travel frequently, etc – may have you feeling stressed and worried about your financial situation. You cannot afford these things, but don’t want your friends to find out. So, you go along with their expensive ideas as a result. Nowadays, this is called FOMO (fear of missing out). Studies show that a good chunk of people have racked up debt due to this phenomenon. (I am being super scientific and using this measurement of “a good chunk of people” as the studies I read about ranged from 39-70% of people – based on different demographics and amounts of people surveyed. The point here is more that it does happen to a lot of people and that if it happens to you, you don’t need to feel weird or alone!)

So….now that you know it is, in fact, a real thing to let other people’s spending trends or performances of wealth affect you, WHAT THE HECK DO YOU DO ABOUT IT?

SIMPLE. You stop caring.

Mind your own business and know that those other people have a lot of other sh*t going on behind the scenes too. Maybe they are making all their purchases on a credit card they can’t afford to pay back, maybe someone else like a parent or spouse is covering the expense, maybe the only reason they have money is because someone close to them died. There are honestly so many reasons behind somebody’s actions/decisions that it is hard to tell from a single incident/picture. Don’t let it get to you! Just pay attention to why and how you do things and leave it at that.

Comparing yourself and your situation to others is hard and, realistically, impossible. We are all way too different to make accurate comparisons anyway. The easiest way is to just not bother. If you want to compete with somebody, compete with yourself. Challenge yourself to always do your best and you will be a winner no matter what everyone else is doing!