Do you know where you are going to?

On a recent road trip from Gqeberha to Kasouga with my daughters and a dear friend, Fiona, we made an interesting decision.

Let’s not use Waze (the navigation system) to get us to our destination.

After all, we had been there many times before, it is a straight road along the coast – how hard can it be?

And off we went, me driving as fast as I legally could, eager to join the wonderful group of friends who were already at Kasouga and tired after already having driven from the Wilderness to Gqeberha.

We chatted animatedly and endlessly, catching up on all the news since we had last seen each other.

At some point, we looked at the clock and realised that we should have been seeing signs to Kasouga by now. Fi switched on Waze and it said we still had an hour to go, but since the cell reception was sketchy and since we should have been closer to our destination, that couldn’t possibly be right.

Just switch it off, we don’t need that kind of negativity because, how hard can it be?

Eventually we saw a road sign that implied we had overshot our destination by far! Fi’s immediate reaction was that the sign couldn’t possibly be right. We stopped, all checked Waze. To our utter dismay, not only was the sign right, but what should have been a 1.5 hour trip had just turned into a 3 hour trip!

We eventually got there safely and endured days of relentless, well-deserved teasing from our friends.

Why am I sharing that dreadfully embarrassing story?

Because it got me thinking.

How often in life are we hurtling at top speed down the wrong road, distracted by all that is going on in our lives, trying to achieve as much as we can as quickly as we can that we forget to stop and do reality checks. We fixate on the end point and simply ignore all the red flags along the way.

It is crucial to have a property investing strategy, but it is even MORE important to have regular check points where you stop and assess progress to date.

• Am I still chasing the right goal for me?

• Is this really where I want to be?

• Is my strategy appropriate given the market conditions?

• Or am I just too distracted, too busy to stop and assess where I am in life?

• I learned the hard way that speed and arrogance don’t get you very far in life.

Today, stop and review your strategy. Does it still make sense or are there some minor adjustments needed to ensure you reach the correct destination at the correct time?