This impacts every single person living in the UK currently both now and in the future. What am I talking about? The financial markets. Virtually everything you do on a daily basis is impacted one way or another by how the financial markets are performing.

Britain currently imports 40% of the food that is consumed annually which in turn accounts for around 7% of the GDP and employs over 3.7 million people. So why is this important? Well, because that means that when the financial markets change, specifically currency exchanges between the Pound and the Euro, then this impacts the price of 40% of the items in your shopping basket every week, either positively or negatively.

Looking long term for some and shorter term for others, moving on to pensions. Most pensions are based on the stock market in one way or another. The whole concept of a pension is designed to encourage saving for later life to benefit from compound interest growth, which means that your money is then invested in things like the stock market, property land and other areas. All designed to turn your £1 into £1.20 over a period of time, then £1.20 into £1.50 and so on, hence giving you a nice pension by the time you retire. Which for some may be many moons away whereas for others this time is approaching rather quickly. So why does this matter? Well, just as with the shopping basket example before, the value of your pension fluctuates based on how well the stock market is performing. Ultimately meaning that when you come to draw your pension, you could end up with more or less money than you planned which impacts you for many years to come and the lifestyle you have. If you were planning on having a couple of holidays per year, maybe it is that you can only afford to pay for one. Or for those not so well off, it could be the difference between using your retirement money to fund a grandchild through University or not.

Stock Market Performance since Brexit

So how exactly have the stock markets been doing since Brexit? Well, not so good. You can watch any news channel on a daily basis and they will often report on the short sighted day to day activities to blind people with facts and figures. You’ll hear things like “The stock market has recovered” and “The FTSE 100 closes above pre-Brexit levels” and so on. All very positive stories which sound great on the face of things. But let’s look at the finer details.

The FTSE 100

The FTSE 100 is compromised of the 100 largest companies in the UK. Which when you look at the value of the FTSE 100 it is currently around the 6,360 mark. Which doesn’t really mean anything to anyone other than those working in financial services. To put this into perspective, as of May 2016, the total value of the shares within these companies equated to around £1,604,668,000,000, that’s right, £1.6 trillion, according to this report [PDF]. When comparing this date to the graphs below, as a rough calculation, that means that every 1 point on the FTSE 100 is worth around £258,871,419. So when the FTSE drops by 1 point this is actually quite a big deal as that is money that has essentially disappeared. Now the reality is that the stock market fluctuates naturally on a day to day basis and with any significant news the stock market is also impacted. I’m not going to go into the finer details about stocks and shares, read a few books about this if you’re interested. What is important though is the volatility of the market, sharp ups and downs. This is bad. It shows a lack of confidence which often manifests itself in the day to day lives of everyone as companies delay investments, delay recruiting staff and may hold off that pay rise till next year.

So how did the FTSE 100 perform since Brexit? Well, quite volatile actually. Not a good situation.

FTSE 250

Moving on to the FTSE 250 market though, this is where things get really interesting. According to the data from May 2016 [PDF], the FTSE 250 companies which were around the 17,000 points mark worked out at a total market capitalisation value of £335,252,000,000 which equates to around £19,720,705 per point. So how have these been performing? Well, quite abysmally actually;

The value of FTSE 250 shares have literally fallen off a cliff. This is a lot of money that has just disappeared which means that if your pension happens to have investments in the FTSE 250, which it probably does, then if you’re coming to draw your pension now, then you’ve likely lost quite a bit of money virtually overnight. All from a single X in a box that people have made.

Currency Exchange since Brexit

Moving away from stocks and shares though, let’s look at currency exchanges. In the UK we import far more goods and services than we export, which means that for everyone, when the pound falls in value, then the costs of everything automatically goes up. A new TV which would have cost you £300 now costs you £320. A new car may now cost you £15,000 instead of £14,000. And so on.

The data above from the ONS highlights how we buy more than we sell, so on average, over 50% of items you purchase are impacted when the currency markets fluctuate.

So how has the Pound been performing against the Euro since Brexit? It may not surprise you, but this again is for pretty dire reading;

It has literally dropped off a cliff;

In simple terms, that beer you want on your holiday, which would have been £2 now costs £2.20 and so on.

It all mounts up. All of these aspects have a significant impact on how money flows throughout the UK economy, including in and out of your own wallet. When things aren’t going so well, you aren’t going to get a pay rise which means that you aren’t going to go out for a meal once a week, which means the restaurant down the road doesn’t employ a second chef, which means that the cleaner is only working 3 hrs a day instead of 4, which means that businesses are averse to signing lengthy contracts which means that their suppliers delay investments. And so on. This is why we need to stop pretending everything is going to be OK after Brexit. In the short time since the referendum, things are looking pretty bad and this concerns me.

Don’t get me wrong, a positive attitude is extremely important. But let’s not fool ourselves. Don’t see reality through rose tinted glasses which you have decided to put on. Take an objective look at what is actually happening and how this impacts you and your family. Most importantly, get involved with the debate that is happening.

I am not a financial adviser nor do I proclaim to be any kind of expert in the field of financial services. I’m sure those who work in this field on a daily basis will no doubt have a word or two to say about my rather layperson outlines above, so feel free to chip and share your 2p’s worth before it turns into 1p’s worth.

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And here lies the problem. This referendum to leave the EU has been won on heresy, lies, bigotry and xenophobia. Honestly, as a country, a leading global economy and as a country part of the G7, I thought we were better than this. It is a sad time to be British. In the days of the internet and Google, ignorance is an active choice. The level of deceit on the leave campaign has been out of this world.

Understandably people were confused as the answer wasn’t handed to them on a silver platter. And the final result just goes to show how this confusion ultimately resulted in people voting with their gut instinct, based on no facts, which were being manipulated by the propaganda in the newspapers. No-one can tell you how to vote, it is your choice, but please, vote based on facts not the propaganda that you read in the newspapers. Remember a time when fast food chains and fizzy drinks manufacturers claimed that their products were healthy? Do you still believe them now? No, you don’t, and this is because you have facts that prove otherwise.

As a leading country on the global field we should be truly leading the way in every aspect of people’s lives. I’m not talking about economics, I’m talking about integration. Running various online businesses and being a frequent traveller around the world to experience different cultures, it is clear for me to see how small the world really is these days. As a leading country, we should be bringing everyone closer together and not putting up barriers to ‘keep people out’. A leading country in the world would understand this and promote integration. It is the backwards thinking countries who aim to isolate and segregate those who are different. This type of behaviour and opinions do not belong in the 21^st century.

Based on this referendum result, we are going to have a tough number years ahead. I do hope that common sense prevails in the long run, although common sense often proves not to be as common as one would hope. This result is going to have a deep impact on families throughout the UK in years to come.

Thankfully, there are signs of hope for the future. The most metropolitan areas of the UK where the future generations are currently residing they have clearly understood this. By their very nature, the metropolitan cities are inclusive, diverse and celebrate differences. They aim to integrate, not segregate. And this is a good thing. To the wonderful people of Manchester, Leeds Liverpool, Scotland (go you!), London, Brighton and many more – well done.

Onwards and upwards. The cards have been dealt and the people have spoken. While I do not agree with the referendum results and this does concern me where we are heading as a society, it is for everyone to pull together and think long and hard about what the future holds. We are at a tipping point as a nation, people have never been more split and disgruntled, whether that is based on this EU referendum, the income inequality that exists throughout the country or the seemingly endless cuts to vital services affecting hundreds of thousands of people’s lives. The EU forced the UK government to invest in areas outside the South East, I doubt the UK government would do that voluntarily. Time will tell how much of an impact this really has. It’s time we get things back on track and start improving the lives of everyone in the UK and globally and we can only do this when we think and work together as a society.

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I’ve come to the conclusion that people often focus on the wrong activities because they are actively choosing to do so for whatever reason. You see, in the modern internet age we live in, there is no shortage of information available and when you speak with your industry peers and the experts you surround yourself with, there is also no shortage of knowledge and expertise either. All of which allow you to make the right decision and guide you to focusing on what actually matters in life. Going down the route of focusing on the items which really don’t matter is a choice. You are choosing to do this, no-one is forcing you down this route. This is because you think this is important. But if you are being told by those around you that this thing you are doing isn’t important, and you still choose to do it, then this is your choice, no-one is going to stop you. But beware, every action has consequences.

Are you focusing on activities which are urgent or activities which are important? Remember, no-one is going to remember you for how many emails you could answer in a day. You have to ask yourself if the urgent actions you are focusing on are actually important, and important to whom? You or someone else? And is it really that urgent? Often in my experience, rarely is anything that is seen as urgent actually is when you put things into perspective.

As a prime example with website design which I spend a lot of my time focusing on. What you think is important to change the colour really isn’t that important in the grand scheme of things. What I would classify as important would be to create and implement a digital strategy that focuses on customer needs. Not the nitty gritty of individual elements on a website and layout tweaks. You see, while you think this is important and urgent, I can tell you it isn’t. As someone with over a decade of experience in the digital world, the reason why I say things like this, and sometimes in a rather direct way, is because I can see what makes a real difference and what doesn’t.

The reality of focusing on what matters come down to your own experience and your ability to listen and learn from others. As the Chinese proverb goes, “Only a fool learns from their own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others.” – And it couldn’t be more true in this situation. You see, it is you who is deciding to focus on what you are focusing on. Only you. Ask yourself, are you really focusing on what matters?

A couple of books well worth a read on the matter to learn how to focus on what matters and how the small, seemingly insignificant decisions you are making on a daily basis are taking you in a direction which you have crafted;

• Eat that Frog
• Slight Edge

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To go to the gym or not to go to the gym. To take the lift of the stairs. To implement a specific technology within your business or another technology. To complete the work in-house or use an external company to support you. To continue doing what you’ve always done or to stop and think differently. Choices. Choices with consequences in one way or another.

It is not a mindful choice when you are running around like a headless chicken all day, firefighting in everything you are doing within your organisation and demanding things just need to get done. People, human beings, you, need space and time to think creatively, plan thoroughly, research the plethora of options available and implement solutions to an extremely high standard.

In my time in business it has always somewhat baffled me why business owners, managers at all levels from mid to senior to C-level rarely take the time to really assess a situation. Always trying to have the upper hand, people always ask, “So, what can you do for me” as they critically judge every word you say from this point forward. This is not a positive environment to start and not an environment in which highly dynamic teams work.

Instead, start to think and behave differently in every aspect of your life. Start to open yourself up to those around you who can help and listen. Remember when your mother told you that you have two ears and one mouth for a reason, use them in that proportion. Start to tell people the stories about what you want to achieve, what you are struggling with. And you know what, you will be surprised just how much help will genuinely come your way to help you on your journey towards your goals.

Whether you are reading this on a personal level or wondering how you can apply these principles in your working life to make better, more informed decisions about everything. The first step is to stop, take a deep breath, listen and think creatively. Never judge a situation based on your own preconceived ideas.

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