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hen people set their own exercise goals and pursue them immediately, it’s more likely to result in positive lasting changes, says a new study published in JAMA Cardiology.

“Most behavior-change programs involve goal-setting,” says Mitesh Patel, associate professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, who led the research. “Our clinical trial demonstrated that physical activity increased the most when patients chose their goals, rather than being assigned them, and when the goals started immediately, rather than gradually increasing over time.”

The study included 500 patients who either had cardiovascular disease or were at risk of developing it and could benefit from increased activity.

Patel based the study on “gamification,” creating behavioral change by turning it into a game. He tested whether playing a game attached to goals could make significant increases against not playing or playing different versions.

Every participant received a wearable step tracker that recorded their daily steps. The main outcomes of the research were less about participation in the games and more about how exercise goals were established, as well as when participants were encouraged to pursue them. Once every participant got used to their tracker, researchers randomly assigned them to the control group, without step goals or games, or one of the gaming groups with goals.

Those in the gamified group went through two other sets of random assignments. One determined whether they’d have input on their step goal, or just be assigned one. The second decided whether each participant would immediately start working toward their goals or would ramp up until the full goals kicked in at week nine – halfway through the study.

The only participants who achieved significant increases in activity were those who chose their own exercise goals and started immediately. They had the highest average increase in their steps, compared to the group with no goals. Those who were assigned goals or had full goals delayed, barely increased their daily steps, showing individuals who select their own goals are more likely to be intrinsically motivated to follow through on them. The study didn’t end when the researchers turned the games off. Participants kept their trackers, and in the eight weeks following, the group that chose their goals and started immediately kept up their progress. Patel concluded that self-chosen, immediate goals help form new habits.