I have always been driven. I have always had goals and I have always been committed to achieve them.

Throughout my life, I have taken on different challenges and events such as rowing across the Atlantic and completing the Marathon des Sables. I relish new adventures.

I always like to have a goal to focus on, work towards and achieve.

As a personal trainer, my job is to assist people in reaching their own personal health and fitness goals and therefore I need to practice what I preach and I’m a firm believer in this.

Life without a challenge, to me, is unrewarding with few benefits. Taking on a challenge or event pushes me; it tests my physical limits, my commitment and my mind. I learn and grow stronger with each challenge I complete and goal that I achieve.

I always ask my clients to set themselves a goal, whether that be to complete a 5km race, a marathon, a triathlon or achieve a specific weight loss for example. I encourage them to sign up to events and have a goal to work towards and I am here to help them achieve that.

To achieve even the simplest of goals, firstly,we need to learn and understand the meaning of commitment and know that without committing, we cannot achieve anything.

The most important part of goal setting is always the why. Why do you want to achieve that goal? How will it affect your life? Why will you feel better for it?

I always set my challenges and goals based on learning new skills, meeting new people, travelling to remote places and for that great opportunity to hit the reset button.

The next step is to train. It is important to break your training down into manageable, achievable bitesize chunks.

For example, break your training plan into daily, weekly and monthly steps that propel you forward.

Training with a friend or family member will help to motivate you and keep you committed to your training plan. I asked my clients to join me on runs when I was training for the MDS and it was a huge help.

Not only did it make it impossible for me to cancel my training plans but it made the experience more enjoyable, they offered encouragement and it made me train harder – I couldn’t let my clients run ahead of me.

It’s important to reward yourself at frequent stages throughout your training plan. This can be a number of things, e.g meals out, dinner party with friends, new training kit.

A huge reward and motivating element for me when taking on challenges is to raise money for charity.

My family have supported ROSY, an Oxfordshire children’s charity, for many years. They provide respite care and essential equipment for many families and children in need.

When I took on the Marathon des Sables (running 257km in six days across the Sahara Desert, whilst carrying all food, sleeping equipment etc on my back), knowing that I was raising a substantial amount of money for such an important cause kept me motivated during the times when I felt like almost giving up.

Shortly after the MDS I also had four days away in Italy booked with my fiancé which was another great motivator.

At TLA Fitness, we organise and encourage clients to sign up to events such as 5-10km races, Wolf Runs and recently we took on the iconic Man v Horse 23-mile challenge in Llanytwrd Wells, Wales.

It was a gruelling race in the Black Mountains which could either be completed individually or in a relay team. The conditions could not have been much worse and when the rest of the country were basking in glorious sunshine, myself and 27 others from Oxford were wading through bog in extremely wet and cold conditions.

However, we had all trained hard, committed to our goal and we were not going to let a bit of wet weather stop us from achieving it.

Crossing the finish line was a huge sense of achievement and a fantastic reward…the tea and jam sandwiches made it even better.

The hardest part about starting any training plan for the first time or taking on events is the initial ‘starting out’ - the how, the who, the why and the when?

Any passionate personal trainer should help and guide you with this, but it also has to come from you as an individual and for you to know the 'why' and give that commitment - and I firmly believe you can achieve anything you put your mind into and commit to.