Monthly Archives: December 2018

What can we learn from the Brexit mess?

Brexit, Planning, Psychological blind spots

What can we learn from Brexit?

This blog is about personal development and trying to be the best that we can be in life and in business.  I don’t normally discuss politics.  So why then look at Brexit?  I believe that there is a lot we can learn about life and ourselves from the current Brexit mess.   Of course I am following the Brexit debate very closely.  This is because I am Irish and Ireland is the country most exposed to the Brexit fallout (after the UK itself).

The referendum

The UK economy was strong back in June 2016 when the referendum was held.  The Leave campaign portrayed Brexit as being easy and the UK would be able to take back its independence as well as strike trade deals around the world.  Payments to the European Union (EU) were said to be a waste of money and £350 million a week could be spent on the UK National Health Service (NHS) instead.  Rational voices which were saying that Brexit wouldn’t work out so easily were dismissed as ‘project fear’.

The reality of Brexit

Over two years on from the referendum and the complicated, difficult and divisive process that Brexit is has become painfully apparent to everyone.  After more than two years of difficult negotiations a draft deal has been worked out with the EU that both leavers and remainers are united in disliking.  Yet all this was plainly obvious to those who cared to look at the hard facts back in 2016.  The British border in Ireland hardly got a mention then but the so called Backstop has turned out to be one of the most contentious issues.  Back in 2016 people were swept along by emotion and simplistic and rose tinted visions of post Brexit Britain.  Brexit was from the start a fantasy project – you can have all the gain without the pain.  You can have your cake and eat it.  You can leave the EU and still have all the benefits of membership.

What can we learn from Brexit?

Lets take the lessons from Brexit into our own lives.  Where are you now in your life?  If you keep on the same path you are on now where will you end up?  Time to take off the rose tinted glasses.  Will you be broke in a year or two if you keep doing what you are doing now?  Where will you be in your business or working life?  Will your marriage and family life be degraded and might you be headed for divorce in 2 years or will your relationships actually be stronger?  If we care to look objectively the facts are there to be seen in our own lives today.  Christmas and the new year are the perfect time to pause and reflect.

So as we watch the slow motion car crash that is Brexit  take place on the world stage lets identify what lessons we can learn from the Brexit mess to improve our own thinking.  If we become more logical, deal more in fact and move away from emotional knee-jerk decisions we will end up with better outcomes in life.

Best wishes,

Tom

P.S. Check out my course 30 Experiments in personal change.  Get the course at the special price of $9.99 for readers of this blog.

Want to be free? Embrace uncertainty

Decision making, Failure, Planning, Uncertainty

Uncertainty is the price of freedom

I read somewhere that the price of freedom is uncertainty.  I have been reflecting on that a lot over the past few weeks and I agree with the statement.  When you have a nice steady job that pays the bills, you can live comfortably.  You have certainty.  Your salary will come into your bank account at the end of the month.  You can book your foreign holiday in 6 months time.  You can get a loan to buy a new car and know that in 3 years time you will be  happily paying off your car loan – ‘no worries’ as the Aussies say.

However if you are feeling unfulfilled and bored out of your mind and want to leave that job to start a business you will be trading your nice certain situation for uncertainty.  You may not know in 6 months if you can cover your bills let alone go on a foreign holiday.

The best advice is to start your business on the side as you keep your day job.  That way you can allow your business to grow as you keep your secure position.  When you see that the business works and can support you and when the demands of the business are such that you must leave then leave.  Your job is your safety net if the business fails.   The reality is that many businesses do fail or at least struggle to survive.  Statistics from the U.S. Small Business Association (SBA), show that 30% of new businesses fail during the first two years of being open, 50% during the first five years and 66% during the first 10.

No regrets

Of course even if your business does fail it is not the end of the world.  Take the lessons of that failure with you and start again.  In many ways the worst failure of all is to live a life controlled by your boss which is safe comfortable, certain and ultimately boring.  Do you really just want to tip toe quietly towards death?  One of the top five regrets of the dying (from a book by Bronnie Ware) is not having the courage of living a life true to yourself and not pursuing your dreams.  The price of freedom is uncertainly.

Best wishes,

Tom

Check out my course 30 Experiments in personal change.  Get the course at the special price of $9.99 for readers of this blog.