Do you have physical fitness goals? I know I do and that I'm always trying to make small improvements to my physical fitness. I know that feeling physically fit and healthy is really beneficial for my overall energy and wellbeing. Recently, I've been working on my cardio with a Couch to 5K programme and am now regularly running 5K. My next focus is to increase my muscle (important at my age apparently!) and tone up generally.

Do you look after your mental health? Increasingly (thankfully), we are now being more intentional about looking after our mental health. I am intentional about creating harmony between work and life, making time to do hobbies that get me into a Flow state, spending time with friends and family and having time to myself. All these things contribute to my mental wellbeing.

I hope that you have ways of looking after your physical and mental wellbeing, but how fit is your career? Is it honed and toned through a regular fitness regime or is it somewhere between (a) a bit flabby and lethargic and (z) wheezing along and barely able to manage a fast walk?

If your career is somewhere in that zone, let me ask you this: What is the point of being physically and mentally fit, if you're unhappy or stressed at work? You could well be undoing all that good work. I meet lots of people who focus on their physical fitness and mental wellbeing just so that they can get through the working day! Don't forget, we spend over one-third of our lives at work (an average of 90,000 hours). We need to prioritise our career fitness.

If your career is carrying a few extra pounds, perhaps it's time to take a look at your career fitness and set some goals that will help you to improve it.

How fit is your career?

So, what does a perfectly fit career look like? A perfectly fit career is one where you're:

• playing to your strengths by doing something that you're great at and that you enjoy;
• working in line with your values;
• feeling motivated;
• fulfilling your career purpose;
• enjoying the environment;
• interacting with people you like;
• feeling energised; and
• know where you're heading.

Give yourself a grade in each of those areas. Are you flying high with an A+, plateau-ing at a C, or "could do better" with a D-. What would your overall grade be?

Set your career fitness goals

The aim of this exercise is to increase your overall career fitness grade. The simplest way to do this is to see which areas have the lowest grades and to set your career fitness goals in that area. You can then prioritise your goals, just as you would your physical fitness.

Which area has the lowest grade?

What action could you take to improve that grade to the next grade up?

How might that improve your overall career fitness grade?

What resources do you need to support you in doing this?

What might get in the way and how can you mitigate that?

Accountability

Please feel free to share any goals you set with me and I'm always very happy to be your accountability partner and check in with how you're getting on.

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