Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:13-14)
Successfully achieving goals in sports, business or any activity often correlates with your level of perseverance and diligence. The Apostle Paul, offering himself as one example to follow, encourages Christians to press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
What is this upward call of God in Christ Jesus? It is the sanctification or maturing process of becoming more and more conformed to the will of God and to the character of our Lord Jesus Christ; And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may proved what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)
Paul tells us that in order to be reaching forward to what lies ahead, it is necessary to be forgetting what lies behind. We ought not to be glorying in our past accomplishments as Christians, nor wallowing in our past sins and failures. We hopefully learn from our past, but not let our past, the good or the bad, keep us from continuing to strive for the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Every Christian will one day be judged by God and be rewarded for our perseverance and diligence in trusting and obeying His word; For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:10)
So while you are still running the race in this life...Press on! Maranatha!