Crushing Forgotten Goals
You're Further Than You Think
Earlier this week, Facebook memories surfaced a photo from 2020. It was an image of a treadmill log that read:
“5.15 miles – 60 minutes.”
The caption I wrote said:
Personal best. Hoping to get to 5.25 in one hour.
A few weeks ago, I started using my treadmill again. The day before this memory popped up, I had run seven miles outside in –2°F, followed by another five miles on the treadmill.
Out of sheer curiosity, I decided to compare that five-mile treadmill run to the “personal best” from six years ago. I pulled up the image from the day prior:
“5 miles – 45:56.”
Without even realizing it, I had absolutely crushed that long-forgotten goal. Not only that—I obliterated it after logging seven brutal winter miles outdoors.
That comparison got me thinking about goal-setting, failure, and how we measure personal progress.
Forgotten Goals
If I’m being honest, I don’t remember setting that running goal in 2020. I couldn’t tell you whether I ever hit it back then, or if I surpassed it. What I can tell you is that at the time, I never would’ve imagined running twelve miles in a day—let alone finishing the last five in under 46 minutes.
It wasn’t a goal I would’ve dreamed of, or believed myself capable of.
That led me to wonder: Which of my current goals will be long forgotten five years from now? I don’t have an answer—but it’s an interesting thought.
Right now, I’m chasing a sub-4-hour marathon and a sub-1:50 half marathon. I want to run a 10K in 50 minutes, drop my 5K time to 24—or even 23—minutes. I’ve set goals to race in as many states as possible, and there’s the looming ambition of attempting an ultra marathon.
Which of these goals will quietly vanish over the next few years? Which will be set aside, forgotten—and then completely destroyed without accolades or pats on the back?
The most surprising thing about that old treadmill goal is that I’ve crushed it over and over again without even noticing—or celebrating—it.
That forgotten goal made something very clear to me:
Progress is often slow, chaotic, and largely unobserved.
Progress is Best Measured From a Distance
Each week, I sit down and plan the next one. I set goals for fitness, health, and personal development. I meticulously fill in bubbles, tracking progress week in and week out.
And at the end of each week, I inevitably fixate on the unfilled bubbles—trying to figure out how I could’ve squeezed more in.
I set running goals, financial goals, relationship goals, and career goals. Every week, I fall short in a few areas. When I plan the next week, I try to correct those misses by adjusting—usually improving one area at the expense of another.
While structure, goals, and intentions are important, reflection is just as critical.
Last week, for example, I missed a few bubbles. I skipped stretching and mobility twice and pushed my upper-body lift into the following week. But I also hit the majority of my goals.
It’s easy to gloss over what we did accomplish and fixate on where we fell short—especially when short-term goals aren’t met.
That 46-minute five-mile run? At the time, it actually felt disappointing. Why? Because I wanted to run at 7.0 mph and “settled” for 6.6. The week before, I’d run much of that same distance at 7.0, so it felt like a step backward.
Measured week to week, maybe it was.
Measured over six years? It was a massive leap forward.
When we evaluate progress day to day—or even week to week—we can get discouraged by the lack of dramatic results. But when we step back and compare ourselves to where we were one, five, or ten years ago, our achievements take on a very different meaning.
Growth is Chaotic and It Takes Time
I constantly remind myself that growth is chaotic and non-linear. Even knowing that, it’s hard to remember in the day-to-day grind. Sometimes it takes something as simple as a Facebook memory to show us how far we’ve actually come.
It’s easy to head out on a random Thursday chasing a personal best—and feel defeated when you fall short. It’s a completely different experience to compare that same effort to where you were a year ago.
This applies to every area of life.
The scale might be up this week—but how does it compare to a year ago?
You might fail a max lift today—but could you even attempt that weight a year ago?
A few missed workouts or bad calorie days won’t erase years of progress. Just like one good day won’t undo years of overeating or inactivity.
If you’re coming up short and feeling disappointed by your day-to-day results, take a moment to look back—one year, five years, or even ten years.
You might find, like I did, that you’re progress has been pretty…
Uncredible.
Music for voice over by Jeremusic70 on Pixabay.