I've been walking 5K every day to boost my metabolism and build mental stamina — here's why I don't count steps

You didn't get rid of your goal and you do have a fitness goal when you're walking. You've just subbed 10k steps for 5km. You literally say it in the opening of this article: "I’ve made it my [goal] to walk outdoors at least 5km every day for the last few months”

Walking 10k steps takes me 8km without fail, whether or not I say "my goal today is 10k steps" or "my mission today is 8km" the end result is the exact same LMAO

You've just traded one fitness goal for another and relying on the old school method of tracking your fitness progress instead of using a screen and fitness monitor to do it for you

Stallone and Arnie never used an oura ring or apple watch either, they just set time or distance and did it, same thing as our ancestors, congrats on figuring out the method of fitness from 20 years ago I guess lol