When someone has FOPA it means they are a conformist. They don't follow their passion or listen to their heart because they are too afraid of what other people will think of them.
What Does FOPA Stand For?
FOPA is an acronym that stands for the Fear of Other People's Approval.
Who Came Up With The Acronym FOPA?
FOPA was coined by personal finance blogger Sam Dogen of Financial Samurai. Sam has been helping readers achieve financial independence sooner rather than later since 2009.
Who Has FOPA?
FOPA sufferers are the ones who create the most amount of FOPA in others. It's like the bully who is hurting inside and therefore picks on others.
The more FOPA one has, the more one tries to ridicule other people because putting people down helps make them feel better.
FOPA makes the world a worse place.
Examples Of FOPA
1) A teenage boy who is a great singer and dancer but quits because he has FOPA. He doesn't want his classmates to make fun of him.
3) A woman who is a lesbian and marries a man because she doesn't want her religious parents to disapprove of her lifestyle.
3) And editor with great English skills who stays an editor and not a writer because she fears that nobody will read her work.
The examples of FOPA go on and on and on.
Why We Must Eliminate FOPA
Here are three reasons why eliminating FOPA can improve someone's life.
1) Reach your full potential. You don't need to conform to society's expectations. Take risks and don't be afraid to try new things that scared you when you were low on confidence. Your happiness is way more important than what other people think.
2) Build the courage to stand up on your own two feet. Timid and meek people are the extreme sufferers of FOPA. They can't stand up for themselves and don't have the confidence to become their best self. Thus, they tend to join up with the wrong people to survive. In addition, people with FOPA tend to bully other people and lash out to make themselves feel better.
3) Reach consistent happiness. Freedom is a big key to happiness. And it takes confidence and not giving a crap about what other people think to feel truly free. Kindness is also a result of having confidence and happiness.
Living with FOPA is suboptimal. Surely you agree. Fearing what other people think makes you feel bad about yourself. And it also makes you want to make others feel bad about themselves. The cycle must be broken.
Destroy FOPA And Live Your Best Life
Come up with your personal mantra. Build so much wealth that you are beholden to nobody. Learn how to fight back with your mind and body to give you confidence. Fail repeatedly so you realize nothing is as scary as you had imagined.
If you do these things you will eradicate your Fear Of Other People's Approval and eventually succeed in your goals.
For more motivation for positive change, check out the best self-help advice for money, health, and wealth.
Recommendation To Build Wealth
Eliminating FOPA partially has to do with building confidence and having peace of mind. I recommend signing up for Personal Capital, the web’s #1 free wealth management tool to get a better handle on your finances. Once you know where your money is going and how it's being allocated, you develop more confidence on your financial journey.
After you link all your accounts, use their Retirement Planning calculator that pulls your real data to give you as pure an estimation of your financial future as possible using Monte Carlo simulation algorithms. I’ve been using Personal Capital since 2012 and have seen my net worth skyrocket during this time thanks to better money management.
Not having to answer to anybody because I'm financially independent is one of the best things ever!
