Try setting an open goal for your New Year’s resolution if you want to exercise more

It’s that time of year when many of us are setting goals for the year ahead. The most common New Year’s resolution — set by 59 per cent of us — is to exercise more.

But our research suggests the way we typically set goals in exercise often doesn’t work. So, what should we do instead?

Our research interviewing elite athletes suggests one possibility is to set open goals instead.

Specific goals can actually put us off

Generally, we’re advised to set specific, or SMART, goals (where SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timebound). Aiming to walk 10,000 steps per day is a common example.

This advice is typically based on goal-setting theory from the 1990s. However, that theory has now evolved, with research now…