It’s Time You Change #YOLO to #TOLO, Because They Also Only Live Once

In 2016 #YOLO was added to the official English dictionary.

In case you don’t know, it stands for You Only Live Once.

According to scholars, it’s 'one of the oldest philosophical mottos in Western history' related to ‘carpe diem’ – seize the day – a phrase coined by the Roman poet Horace.

I think of it as a mindset.

It’s a way to say, 'You know what? To hell with this, I’ll do this dumb thing on a night out with my friends because I only live once!'

#YOLO is being blamed for everything from rapid job turnover to the recent cryptocurrency boom.

#FOMO, or Fear Of Missing Out, is essentially the same thing.

These are both mindsets that reflect the normalization of impulse behaviour without thought to the future.

#FOMO is fuelling #YOMO lifestyle and economy.

Will Smith captured this sentiment when he said, 'We spend money that we do not have, on things we do not need, to impress people who do not care.'

#YOLO is about YOU.

It's focused on the things YOU do, things that bring YOU joy and things that matter to YOU.

I often hear people asking 'If you knew you only had one week to live how would you live that last week?’ when giving an excuse to do something foolish naive or plain stupid.

But is life just about you?

Here's a challenging idea.

What if you change #YOLO to #TOLO and ask 'If you knew it was some else's last week, they didn't know and you couldn't reveal it to them, how would you treat that person?'

Now it's about THEM - the things THEY do, the things that bring THEM joy, the things that matter to THEM.

Remember, 'They also Only Live Once.'

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