The moral of this story is that goal-setting is vital for making any change. Whether you’re aiming for a promotion at work and planning how you’re going to prove you deserve it, or wanting to someday buy a house and working out how you’ll stump up a deposit, positive change requires one big concrete goal and a path littered with smaller steps.

When it comes to fitness, PTs use something called the SMART method to help clients work out what it is they want to achieve. That stands for:

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Time-bound

Let’s imagine that my goal is to be able to run faster without feeling like I’m going to have a cardiac arrest. That’s a noble goal but it’s too wishy-washy. Using the SMART method, I can actually set about achieving it:

Specific – I want to run a 5K PB at Parkrun
Measurable – I know my current personal best time and want to beat it
Attainable – I can run 5K and have the time to run slightly more often
Relevant – I like running and want to be able to run a faster 10K in the future, so this goal is something I’ll enjoy working towards and will help me in the future
Time-bound – I want to run my Parkrun PB on the first Saturday in April

You can do the same with any goal. “I want to eat healthier” isn’t really something you can achieve, but resolving to improve your gut health by eating 30 plants a week is. You might decide to aim for 15 plants a week initially, then increase that number by two plants a week for 10 weeks.

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