What is a goal target?

The target is the number that means the goal is met, and the current value is where you are now. Progress is the distance between them.

The target does not have to go up. Plenty of real goals are about a number coming down — weight, spending, overdue items — and a goal tracked in the wrong direction reports failure every time you succeed.

A target can be changed after you set it. That is deliberate: a target you discover was wrong is worth correcting, not worth quietly abandoning.