Sophie Radcliffe has spent the last few years taking part in some awesome endurance events, which she writes about at www.challengesophie.com.  Sophie loves Cyclebeat, and Cyclebeat loves Sophie, but before they live happily ever after, she’s going to blog regularly for us, telling us how Cyclebeat is helping her to hit her goals.

In life we need goals. Sometimes we scream our goals from the rooftops, write them down in huge block letters and tape them to our computer screens. Other times, we keep them quietly ticking over in the back corners of our minds.

Some days, our goals pop into our heads the moment we wake up in the morning and provide us with reason and drive for us to do things, anything. Other days we wake up and feel as though we don’t know what we want, where we want to go or how we can achieve something. Sound familiar?

One thing is for certain, we struggle to live a meaningful life without goals. Love them or hate them – they ARE the reason we get out of bed in the morning.

I realised a few years ago that life was too short to just watch it pass by, so I decided to set myself some interesting goals.  I started to participate in exciting physical challenges, which I write about on my Challenge Sophie blog.  From cycling to Amsterdam to mountaineering in the Alps – if it sounds like fun (in a tough test of physical endurance kind of way) then I’ll have a go.

Cyclebeat is a big fan of goals and helping us Beatniks achieve them.  Inspiring us to make small changes that build up to make a big difference in our lives. When I was first drawn to Cyclebeat, my goal was my first Ironman. The race (which I’m about to take part in at the time of writing) involves rather a lot of cycling (112 miles) and a lot of hills with the race being in Wales. Cyclebeat offered me the chance to get myself in the best possible shape to take on this challenge whilst also maximising my time spent training. It’s an opportunity to get fit, fast.  I’ll let you know how I get on.

I’ve found Cyclebeat to be ideally set up to ensure I can fit rides into my busy life, and get the maximum training benefit in the minimum time.  Otherwise it would take me 45 minutes to cycle out of London to just to find a good training route.  Their instructors are fantastic, the Beatboard is a real motivator, and receiving ride stats after every ride is a dream for anyone who is serious about hitting their goals, because you can really measure your progress.

Cyclebeat’s mantra is “Whatever your goal, you can Cyclebeat it!”  Whether your goal is to get fit, lose weight, do your first 10K run, triathlon, get in shape after having babies or to live healthier and feel great – Cyclebeat is the place to get cracking on your goals.

It’s amazing to be in the studio and see people of all backgrounds in there sweating it out side by side. Even if I’m not in the mood when I arrive, the music, the instructor and the group energy combine to give me such a lift.   I hope to share that great feeling in class with you soon.  Happy riding folks.

I’ll let you know about how I’m getting on with my challenges.  Meanwhile, I’d love to hear from you about the goals you are working towards. Please leave a comment below or get in touch on Twitter.

We are big on setting goals at Cyclebeat.  This is the first in a series of regular articles about setting, and achieving, goals - in fitness, and in life.  Many of you will have wisdom and experience in this area.  We aim for this to be a collaborative exercise, and would love to hear your thoughts.

“Don't go changing...” sang Billy Joel many years ago. And I must stress, fellow riders, that we do indeed love you just the way you are.  But you may well want to change something for your own benefit – everyone wants to change something. Maybe you want to get fitter and healthier. Possibly you want to take part in your first 10k charity run.  Or perhaps you feel that now is the time to get down to writing that novel which has been jumping around in your head for most of your life.

But how to start?  The problem with most big challenges is that while we very much want to have achieved them, the prospect, in advance, seems so immense that we simply don't know where to begin. And so, overwhelmed by the enormity of the task, we put it off until another day.  And that day never comes.

There is a way of making it happen though.  I can't offer you an easy solution – no significant change in our life habits is ever easy.  But what I can promise is that it is simple.

Just make one tiny change, and do it for the next week.  That's all – no huge ordeal, no sweeping changes to the way you run your life.  Just that one little thing.

So skip the packet of crisps which you normally have with your lunch.  To get yourself on the road to that 10k, just jog and walk for 10 minutes.  And hey you, budding novelist, write 50 words. That's right, just 50 words!

Do it every day for a week, and see how you feel at the end.  It's a rewarding feeling, hitting your targets, however modest they are, so at the end of that week, up the target a little.  And make a deal with yourself that you will keep it going for 30 days.

Trying to make huge changes overnight leads to inevitable failure and giving up.  Change comes slowly, the key is to form new habits.  Gradually integrate the desired activity into your life and before you know it, it's simply what you do.

Start small, and start today.  

So what do you think?