Use Rebellion to Combat FOMO
By: Shaunta Grimes
Tags: Creativity, Byob, Blogging, Productivity, Writing

FOMO: the Fear of Missing Out.

Who has it? Come on. Raise your hand. I’m just going to assume y’all are raising the roof, because I know that you’ve felt it before.

That feeling when it seems like everyone you know is doing a thing, and you aren’t. The energy is infectious, and you’ve been bitten by the bug, but whatever that thing is, it doesn’t fit for you.

Maybe it’s NaNoWriMo. Every November, everyone you know is out there writing a whole damn book in 30 days, and meanwhile, you don’t write fiction. You’re a blogger.

Maybe it’s the Blog-Your-Own-Book Challenge. Your writing friends are busy planning their BYOB project, and you’re a fiction writer who does’t really want to write a bunch of blog posts.

Maybe it’s — any situation where everyone else is on the boat and you wish you were, too, even though you don’t really want to be.

I have a proposition for you.

Grab onto the tail of that energy.

It’s the energy of the thing that matters the most. The idea that a conglomeration of people are all working toward the same goal at the same time.

Think about this: It doesn’t really matter if your goal is different.

You can take that tiger by the tail. Use the energy and enthusiasm to do your own work, your own way.

Let’s take NaNoWriMo. Maybe, instead of trying to write a 50,000 word novel in thirty days, you make some other big, hairy writing goal. Finish editing that book you’ve already written. Write some crazy number of blog posts — 50 or even 100 maybe? Something that will push you.

Because it’s pushing yourself to do more than you thought you could that’s the whole point. You can tap into the excitement surrounding NaNoWriMo and use that energy to do whatever you want to do.

Whoo, boy. Rebellion is intoxicating.

How to tap into BYOB if you’re not a blogger.

The Blog-Your-Own-Book Challenge is supposed to be a call to write 31 blog posts in August, all on the same topic, and turn them into a book you can sell to create an income stream or use as a lead magnet.

But what if you’re a fiction writer and you don’t really want to try to blog a novel? What if you want to be traditionally published and don’t actually want to publish your book via a blog before you try to sell it? What if you have some other project that needs your attention in August?

Be a rebel. Really. Go on and try it.

Tap into the energy that’s created when a bunch of people are all excited about the same thing at the same time. And then use that energy to do whatever you want to do.

Need some ideas? Here are a bunch:

If you’re a fiction writer, create a series of flash fiction stories that are set in the world of your novel. They’ll make a great lead magnet.

Use BYOB to explore a topic you’ve been interested in, but you haven’t actually written about before.

Learn a new skill in August and blog about the process. Teach as you go.

Edit your last completed first draft in August. Break it up into 31 parts and finish one a day.

Sign up for Teachable and use August to create your first (or next) online course.

If you want to try to traditionally publish your book, choose a topic that’s tangental to blog about during BYOB, you’ll end up with a minimum viable product or a lead magnet. Plus your posts will attract the audience you want for your book when you do write it.

The possibilities are nearly endless. Rebellion is encouraged around here.