I have followed Gary Snow’s fitness efforts on Instagram for some time now. Once I learned that Snow had previously recognized his many risks for heart disease early and worked to optimize his heart health, I just had to include his story in my new book, Optimize Your Heart.

Below you’ll find select extracts from Chapter 4, where I use Snow’s efforts to turn motivation into goals and, finally, healthy habits.

For Gary Snow, an IT technician for a law enforcement agency, it was a realization that...