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?