Back in 1976 Ron Wayne started Apple Computers together with ‘the Steves’. He was recently interviewed on Sunrise (http://au.tv.yahoo.com/sunrise/factsheets/article/-/10759256/an-apple-a-day-kept-the-billions-away). In case you don’t know his story, he is the guy who after only a short time walked away from Apple in the end selling his 10% stake for $800. Today, 35 years on, those shares would be worth about $35 Billion!
He said: “it was exciting and interesting to be at the focal point of these historic events, but at the time when those events occur of course you don’t realise they are historic.”
Samantha Armytage asked him the question I guess we are all interested about: “You could have been worth 35 billion today, do you lay awake at night feeling regrets and anger towards the decisions you have made in the past?”
I was amazed by Ron Wayne’s response. I now use it a lot in my trading should I ever feel a pinch of regret for not having taken a trade that turned out to be the ‘historic trade of the day’ (I am paraphrasing here so maybe watch the interview if you want to know what exactly he said):
“No, I don’t regret it, the reasons I had at the time were perfectly reasonable … if I would have stayed with Apple I probably would have wound up the richest man in the cemetery. It was really a rough road and for that and some other reasons I had to.”
How often do we look at a trade that we took a small profit on which could have become a big profit. But the truth is that if it had been part of your trading plan, you would have seen it and you would have taken it. If you didn’t be proud of yourself for being true to your strategy!
