It is the New Year.

This is the time of year that finds many of us nursing hangovers but, once recovered, looking for new ways to elevate our fitness, health and performance.

It is so common to see good intentioned people begin the New Year in a frenzy of hope, optimism and motivation, only to lose enthusiasm after a few weeks as they succumb to fatigue, injury or loss of direction. So many of us seem to jump into fitness, without a clearly defined path or goal, and become lost and frustrated in just a few weeks.

It seems that, when considering our health and fitness, we are prone to lose the logic that we apply to so many areas of life. For example, no successful business simply operates without a plan and progression. They set a vision, a plan to achieve that vision, including budgets, strate- gies and periodic assessments of progress, then they implement the strategy. Perhaps this year you should consider applying that approach to your fitness.

I find that the most successful long-term fitness strategies involve a strong goal that acts as a north star. This is something that can act as a defining beacon of direction that allows all decisions for training to be based. There is no better type of goal in fitness than an event or race. You do not have to be a competitive athlete to get rich reward from training for, and participating in, an event.

Even once an event is chosen, it is still common for many to fail to reach their goal. The failure can often be attributed to one of a few huge mistakes in either the choice of event, planning for the event or execution of the training. By understanding the most common mistakes, perhaps you can avoid the pitfalls and find success.