Do you ever wonder why you seem to set the same goal over and over again?

Common ones include “I will get fit this year” or “I want to lose two stone” or “I want to be bikini ready for the summer”.

Setting goals is like being a rugby team standing in the middle of the pitch and just looking at the scoreboard, hoping they will win the match.

People who win and people who lose have exactly the same goals. The difference between them is the systems and processes they put in place to enable them to reach their goals.

These are more commonly known as our habits. When asked how long it can take for someone to develop a habit, research suggests it could take 21 days, 30 days or 66 days, depending on which study you read.

However, habits are not a finish line to be crossed, they are a lifestyle to be lived. If you are having a problem changing your habits then the problem is not you, it is the system you have in place.

It is not because you do not want to change things, but because you have the wrong system to change.

Many of our everyday habits are just a reaction to the environment in which we live. For example, if you walk into your kitchen and see a biscuit lying around, you will eat it.

Or when you sit on the sofa, you turn on the games console because it is there beside you.

To develop new habits, you must remove all these tempting stimuli from the environment that surrounds you.

Put the tin of biscuits in the back of the cupboard out of sight. Move the games console so it is no longer easily accessible and on show.

Very small changes to your environment can make a huge difference to your habits.

These can in turn help you to achieve your ultimate goals.

Focus on making one small change at a time, rather than completing the big goals you have set yourself.

And try to improve your systems to make sure these planned changes really happen.

Then when you get asked how you managed to get into the best shape of your life, you will be able to reply: “It was easy, I just moved the biscuits!”

I hope you’re reading this and are now thinking how you can achieve all your health and fitness goals with a sense of confidence and knowhow.

If not, then feel free to reach out to me at [email protected] and I will help where I can.