Here's a typical I'm-not-drinking-but-oh-so-tempted FOMO scenario (I’ll get to the 3 tips right after): 

You’re the first to arrive at your friend’s for dinner. She’s got beautiful appetizers, jazz music playing, and as she begins opening the Chilean Cab Sauv your FOMO kicks in. 

Shit! What the f***  was I thinking when I signed up for this drinking break challenge?? 

“Wine?” your friend asks.

“Uhhhhhh…I would love some, but I’m not drinking right now”. 

Womp womp. Party pooper.  

“Oh boo…boring! Well how about just one glass? It won’t kill you!” she half jokingly asks.

“As tempting as it is, I’m trying this total break thing for 5 weeks” you respond with waning confidence. Your brain is trying hard, so very hard to offer you ALL sorts of reasons for why you SHOULD have the drink.  

⏰ FOMO alarms sounding everywhere! ⏰

Someone else has arrived so your friend goes to answer the door. Phew! Some breathing room. The new guest quickly accepts a glass of wine. 

Your friend pulls out bubbly water from the fridge and pours some for you. Thank you you say, though you feel you should be apologizing instead. Then you watch as she fills up the two glasses with the luring liquid. Your FOMO goes from bad to worse as you hear the wine's 'glug' hitting the glasses. You regret signing up for the challenge.  

But after the pouring stops you take a few deep breaths and your thoughts are calm again. You begin sipping your water. 

Your FOMO’s still a thing for a while, but begins to fade as time passes. You leave the gathering a little earlier than you usually would. You get home, make a tea and sit quietly, then you get ready for bed and go to sleep. You wake up the next day and the JOMO begins. No post-drinking blahs! No hangovers!

3 Tips to turn Drinking FOMO into JOMO

1. Don’t be lured by the (perceived) glamour of alcohol 

I know, easier said than done. And I promise you, it gets easier with practice. Saying “no” to a drink is a muscle you need to exercise, so don’t expect it to be easy at first. But you need to try and look at alcohol beyond its glamour, like with neutrality. For example, try and see past the pretty pink bubbles, the artsy label design, or elegant presentation. These fine details are done on purpose and trigger cravings. When a craving is triggered, so is FOMO. 

The bottle may look glamorous in the evening, but not so much when you wake up in the morning. So when you find yourself drooling for a taste when you’re socializing, create a mantra or two for yourself. Something like:

I love waking up feeling refreshed!

Sleeping well feels better than a buzz.

Waking up without guilt and regret is glamorous.  

Saying “no to a drink makes me feel empowered. 

2. When FOMOing, ask yourself these two grounding questions

   
   

You’ve decided to take a drinking break for a reason, probably a few. It’s so easy to sweep these under the rug when FOMO starts to make its way into every cell of your body.

Tip #2 is about embracing these reasons instead of trying to convince yourself they aren’t important enough. 

Two grounding questions to ask yourself when plagued with FOMO:

1) Why am I taking a drinking break? Why is this important for me?  

2) What JOMO aspect makes this totally worth it? 

JOMO examples: 

• sleeping well

• waking up feeling refreshed

• saving money

• feeling in control or empowered

• feeling at peace

• less heartburn

• no racing heart at 3am 

• or anything that feels like self-care

• feeling more spiritually present in life 

3. Engage in fun, pleasurable, or soul-filling activities that don’t include drinking

When you’re in the habit of drinking for fun and pleasure, it can be hard to find it (fun and pleasure) elsewhere. For me, fun revolved around drinking. Almost always. The anticipation of drinking itself creates excitement. But- and another tip for turning FOMO into JOMO- that excitement quickly turns south after the drinking is done, and especially, the next day.  

Since cutting my drinking way back, I’ve taken more pleasure in being in nature, for example. I “crave” nature, trees, the  water. It feels like soul food. I also love to write and engage my creativity that way. If I’ve had a few drinks the night before, my foggy brain disconnects me from my writing. 

What sorts of activities feel good to you? What does your spirit crave? When you engage in things you enjoy, drinking FOMO is non-existent. It’s all JOMO.

To conclude, it isn't always easy to turn a drink away when you’re taking a break. Drinking is an incredibly ingrained habit. It’s also a social expectation. This is the reason many people will avoid social situations when not drinking. And it’s totally understandable. 

If you’re ready to take a break from drinking, I’m running a 5 week reflection-based challenge September 8 to October 12 (2025) called Time for Less Wine. Take a full or partial break, or drink on occasion.  Learn more about Time for Less Wine and sign-up here. 

Challenge or no challenge, I’ll let you go and find your JOMOs!