How are your targets going? I know you if you have any targets or goals created you will be focusing on them. These could be work or personal, and if you are like me, you will love targets and goals.

As I have previously stated, one of my goals for this year was to lose 2 stone (12.5 Kgs) or 28 lbs. We are now a good seven weeks into my target, and I wanted to mention something essential to meeting any target, and this is called Marginal Gains.

Marginal Gains are crucial to get you head around, especially at the stage where I am currently, with my weight loss. Of course, if your target isn't weight-related, it can be applied to anything else from developing business to obtaining your next job, the theory is just the same.

Marginal Gains are explained very well by Sir Dave Brailsford, who was the UK Cycling Coach. He took the ailing British Cycling Federation from 2 bronze medals at the 1984 Atlanta Olympics to the fantastic medal haul of 8 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze at London 2012 and 6 gold, 4 silver and 1 bronze in Rio 2016.

"The whole principle came from the idea that if you broke down everything you could think of, that goes into riding a bike, and then improved it by 1%, you will get a significant increase when you put them all together.

There's fitness and conditioning, of course, but there are other things that might seem on the periphery, like sleeping in the right position, having the same pillow when you are away and training in different places.

They're tiny things, but if you clump them together, it makes a big difference."

Transferring this into performance, he stated a weekly 1% improvement equates to an average of 37% over a year. These are little changes, small tweaks and improvements. Focus on this, and the end result will be massive.

Marginal Gains are what we should be focusing our energy on. Currently, I have lost 16 lbs (7.25 Kgs), and now I need to focus on my weekly Marginal Gains to get to the next level. These can be small but significant things that add to the massive result. 

Applying this understanding can have a massive impact on all our goals and targets.

Ralph Moody is the founder of Target Training and specialises in trainer and management development.  You can read more about him here.