To Push the Peanut Forward

our goal is to make progress one step at a time, to push the peanut forward, (article source)

It means making steps everyday, however small, to achieve the goal(s) you set for yourself.

This relates in some way to the quaint US custom of pushing peanuts competitively:
originally with one's nose, latterly with some other object, occasionally by blowing.
A US native could elaborate.