This post was motivated by a response provided to a message of mine on Twitter.  I had tweeted this

I am coining a new term here, which is ‘nontent’ (nonsense content). A majority of the content being posted on the internet is nontent.

and @devswatch, AKA Devendra Rao, responded to me with

so can you share some techniques to separate the wheat from the chaff?

so I am glad to discuss this in this post.

First off, I found that ‘nontent’ is a term that some other folks had already created.  Anyway, I made it up not knowing they made it up, so that is just as good.

Back to the topic, I was saying that a majority of the content on the internet is ‘nontent’, or nonsense content, which is basically material that won’t provide benefit.  Devendra was asking how to separate the useful from the not-so-useful.  My main tip would be:

If you are reading/viewing/listening to the same content multiple times, it better be providing you with a new level of knowledge/energy/etc each time.

This applies both to an example like reading the same article twice, and also to reading different articles about the same specific topic twice.  If you read something general about happiness on one site, and then see a similar article about happiness on another site, you won’t get much out of hitting the same content up twice.

As far as separating bad from good, good is that which gets you to perform positive actions.  If 50 Cent’s Twitter feed helps get you motivated to contact customers, you need to be checking his feed regularly.  If you only work out while watching CharlieJames1975 on YouTube, then that is the content you should continue to absorb.

If you look at the Twitter Trending Topics, you will see a lot of low-level nontent.  The good stuff on Twitter is the messages most of us don’t see.  It’s not in the trending topics, or said by some popular folks, but instead said either by people we know of and have learned from, or from an intelligent individual with some messages to send.  The people you would want to follow on Twitter are the ones that get your brain going, or that give you ideas you use.  The others may be fun to follow, but then it is like watching TV passively, and nothing comes from that.

As far as sites, how do you know whether a site is good for you or not, and whether it is part of the great ‘wheat’ or the useless ‘chaff’?  Read it for a week or two and then assess whether you have changed in any way or taken any new actions because of it.  If not, and if you just read it like a newspaper while eating breakfast, stop reading it.  Also, if you’re not currently sure what programs or sites you use the most on your computer, use something like proctrastitracker or other application that keeps a record of your computer time usage.

You have to do everything you can to keep the time that you spend used absorbing or working with valuable material.  If you see another post about 5 ways to happiness, and the last post about 4 ways to happiness didn’t help you much, this one likely won’t help you either.  Look for something very specific that you can use to take action.

I want to thank Devendra for tweeting me the question.  It is nice to see some interaction on Twitter.  A huge chunk of Twitter is just a set of well-known people and their mass followers, and there isn’t much communication between them.  I like messaging with folks on there who I wouldn’t normally have communicated with otherwise.

Always take note of the few people who give you real support.

Bring what you can bring to the table, and leave regrets behind.

Collect information throughout your life and you will be well-informed.

Don’t allow others to suck away your enthusiasm.

Energize those around you and they will reciprocate.

Functioning smoothly requires that “balance” that people are always mentioning.

Good people are regularly taken advantage of until they become not-so-good.

Hobbies have to be kept on the side until if/when you are ready to take them prime-time.

In this world, there is so much going on at the same time.

Just spend your time with people that treat you with respect, and set aside those who don’t.

Knowledge will help take you from where you are to a more desirable place(couple it with action).

Live as though you have to run everything in your life on your own, and allow others in after you are stable.

Make others glad for your presence by being valuable.

Never accept treatment that is not fitting for the effort you feel you are putting out, or it will show up repeatedly.

Only being yourself will lead you to a position that you are glad for.

People-pleasing, in order to seem nice, will not get you far.

Quit something before you invest much time in it is okay, but quitting something when you are close to completion is generally a bad idea.

Running sometimes is the only way to make something work, as walking will leave you out of the rankings.

Some of the best methods are found by experimentation, and not by attempts to force the system your way.

Trying is looked at disparagingly, so it is vital that you stick to implementing.

Usual methods can work out just fine for you, because you may be unusual enough to make their usage viable.

Very few have a solid control of their daily activities.

When you find something that works, repeat it until it doesn’t work, and you may find that it continues to work for longer than you could imagine.

X is the letter you may have wanted to see how I would use.

Your friends are only your friends if they don’t run for the hills during your difficult times.

Zeal and vigor only come when you can see a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

In this session of the 12 days of posts, I want to discuss an element of success that is required for anyone looking to make it.  This element is the ability to continue an effort regardless of the response or lack thereof.  This is so crucial to success that it is a requirement, and if you don’t have this ability in the field in question, you will not be able to progress forward in it.  Let me discuss further.

You can only succeed at the things you can do well and continuously without constant support from others.  You may get support at times, but remember that everyone else has their own missions and plans, and at times you will not get the support you need from others, so you have to have to have fortitude inside.

Couple Of Examples

First, I will start with an example of a type of person that will never make it big.  Ashley, an aspiring fashion designer, has some interest in creation fashion as her career, but only gets bursts of energy to do so when others are watching and commenting on her ability.  She only goes to fashion shows when people go with her.

Ashley won’t make it far.  When a problem comes up, she will give up on this career aspiration.

Now, take another person named Alex who is looking to take his computer programming ability to the next level by putting out his own self-made program for sale.  Alex works on it on his own time and could care less whether he has or doesn’t have support along the way.  He enjoys the process enough to continue.

Those Who Got There

While these examples have been made up and are somewhat vague, they get the point across.  Think about all those people you see who “made it” and those people you see who are struggling.  Notice how the ones who “made it” were doing what they were doing regardless of others.  They were working on their craft when it didn’t matter to a single other person whether they worked on their craft.  This dedication is what we love from creators and people that do work, because it shows a resolve that is unable to be removed.

If you have this resolve, you will make it.

I hope the title of this post sounds superficial.  Something can be superficial and accurate at the same time.  Some folks will look at the picture of me on my About page and discount any words I have to say from that point forward.  At the same time, some will see the picture and then value my words more highly because I look good in some way to them.  Even further, if I replaced my current photo there with another one that looks better or worse, the value of my content in the eyes of viewers could shift again.

Looks Say So Much

I read part of a book named Looks: Why They Matter More Than You Ever Imagined, by Gordon Patzer Ph. D., and while this book was released in January of 2008, it might as well be new to me, because that is the first time I had seen it at a bookstore.  I read quite a bit of the book very quickly, because the material was important for me to learn about.  When you read a book quickly, you can take that as a definitive sign that the content is right up your alley, and that you need to delve further into it.

Also, before I discuss further, I want to point out that I understand that there is a valid link between looks and intelligence, because a person we label as intelligent is more likely to take better care of their health and hygiene, but it is not a direct connection, because there are those who we label as intelligent that put that brainpower towards other pursuits and put less energy towards maintaining their health and hygiene.  I also understand that you or others may feel that those who don’t maintain good health and hygiene are by definition unintelligent, but the common description of intelligence is solely knowledge in some specific field.

Gordon mentioned many things, such as that US Presidential candidates since the 1960s when TV was released have had to be quite good-looking to get to their position, or that nurses give more attention to babies that are more physically attractive, or that parents have more adoration for their children who are better-looking and have a better chance of passing on their genes.

What Is The Goal Here?

Is the purpose of this message to cause any of you who think you are ugly to be angry at the world regarding your physical appearance?  Nope(unless you can use that for motivation, but that is not so likely).  The purpose of this is to signal to you that want to use Pareto’s principle regarding your looks versus your other efforts.  You have to start thinking that some people will weigh 80%(or some other large percentage) of their judgments about whether to deal with you, or purchase from you, or accept you, on your looks, as opposed to your work/efforts/intelligence/production.

Then, you might be thinking: “why would I want to appease shallow folks?”.  First, you shouldn’t call them shallow, and second, work with people as they are.  If it greatly helps your endeavors to look better, who cares?  When you are successful, you can then have an influence on how folks perceive others if you so desire.  Until you are there, your influence will be small(negligible).

There Are Elements Within Your Control

The majority of people can become much more attractive by working on their fitness, diet, and hygiene.  You can’t let these things slide if you want to “make it big”.  Many opportunities are closed off to you if you don’t cross a certain threshold of physical attractiveness.  A huge percentage of your attractiveness is within your control to alter, and those items that are out of your control are to be ignored.  Ignoring that which is out of your control is a way to become empowered.

Look at some of the people who you support the most.  Would you still support them if they weren’t as good looking as they are(and they probably are, as success and attractiveness go hand-in-hand)?  This ranges from all fields, from teachers to doctors to speakers to chefs.  We lend more credence, and opportunity, and support, to those who are better-looking.

Gary Has Alluded To This

Gary Vaynerchuk has said in many of his speeches, including one that I personally saw him at, that not everyone is as handsome as he is, so they wouldn’t be as able to make it big with regularly posting videos online like he does.  While he is being friendly or entertaining when he says this, he still is saying that his looks have relevance in his success.  I would take it a step further and say that it doesn’t matter that he is mainly about putting out videos.  If he was only writing articles, people would still first head to his About page to see how he looked, and possibly discount his wine recommendations if he didn’t look up to par, “par” being whatever the viewer felt was “par”, and most of us are very similar on what “par” is as far as physical attractiveness.

What Is An About Page Picture For?

On that note about About pages on sites, it is often recommended that every writer of articles has an About page on their site, where it is important that they have a picture of themselves, supposedly so the reader can better relate.  What is not said is that is that the picture is likely to also be used by the viewer to partially assess whether the person is physically attractive enough to merit reading/viewing their content in the long-term.

I am only going to use Gary for an actual example, but I can easily think of many men and women who benefit all the time due to their looks.  It can be difficult to look past a person’s looks when assessing the value of their content/product/work/effort.  Our minds don’t have laser focus on content like we might think.  Sometimes we feel that we have moved far beyond how people were in older times, and that we are much more complex and analytical of possible mates or work partners or people to associate with, but our instinctual responses have barely changed at all.

Who Is This For?

This post was mostly directed at those who are aiming to become more successful but who have not put much effort in towards improving their physical appearance(and have potential to do so).

I feel that this post will cause increased thought from you readers, as I wrote it with more vigor than many of my posts, which is usually a good sign.  Note that I said vigor and not anger, because as you can notice, I didn’t mention whether I am on the worse-looking or good-looking end of the “physical attractiveness leading to more support” stick.  I look forward to hearing your thoughts in the comments.

Recently, Mark Dykeman tweeted:

So, enough about candies: who out there is actively using Google Buzz?

I then knew what I would want to post about.

What Failure?

Some would call Google Buzz a failure in terms of gaining widespread usage.  Google Buzz is a service created by Google that lets people interact in real-time, and keep records of their interactions, and so on.  This is a great thing, but at the same time, it does not seem to have been picked up by so many as a regular service that they use.  There is a great lesson to take away from this.

Individuals at Google take risks by creating services like Google Buzz, or Google Maps, or Google Notebook(which is no longer supported).  Do you hear someone talking about how they didn’t find Google Buzz useful now?  This doesn’t occur so often.  What you might hear instead is that someone loves using their GMail account, or that someone uses Google Earth every day.  Engineers and people involved with product release at Google have the foresight to realize that some of their products will not be as accepted as others, and while they give each one a complete attempt, they are quick to make up for any losses with a new and better product.

Album Release Is The Same Way

The same is true with a musical artist.  They might have an album that people think is terrible.  If they stop producing music right there, people will be left with an image of the artist failing at making hit music again.  However, the artist that doesn’t stop there, and outdoes that failure with a new release that is successful, suddenly makes that failure a thing of the past.  We then think of their terrible album as a fluke attempt, as opposed to feeling like it is the best they could come up with, and our view of the artist is one of seeing their resiliency.

This Is Related To Step 2

This concept is relevant after the first step of any individual or company, which is to release one or more products.  If there are no failures to bounce back from, the main concept is to put out a solid try or two.  Once that is done, any failing products or releases are then to be conquered with new attempts.

The Public’s Short Attention Span Helps

One great thing is that the quite short attention span of the public, due to so many products being released, and so much news coming out, is that your failures can be quickly turned around, regardless of how big or small you or your company is.  For example, many have already forgotten, or stopped thinking, about the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  This is not to say that it is necessary for you to think about it daily, but to show that even large events are soon left out of our minds unless we have some personal reason to keep them there.

Use this short attention span to your advantage by negating any of your past failures with new versions of them or new modes of release.  If a company releases a toy set for children, and the toy is found to be dangerous in some way to the health of kids, it may impact the company’s reputation at that time, but they can quickly come out with a campaign regarding the kinds of toys they will be producing, along with the quality they will put into them, and the issue will not only be resolved, but the company will come out looking like the tough underdog that is out for the consumer.

Toyota Brake Issue Public Relations Campaign

Toyota turned the brake issue that came up a while back into an opportunity to release commercials about how safe their products are, and how they are testing drive-ability with their advanced simulator.  As an example, if they had stopped producing cars due to that issue coming up often in the news, people would now think of Toyota as the company that couldn’t keep up with safety standards, or something of that nature.  This may seem obvious, but many are hit with a failure and don’t see that they can outdo it, or negate it, through some quick or strategic action on their part.  Failures don’t have to come with a permanent feel.

photo credit: nlnnet

Eduard Ezeanu is a communication coach with an attitude-based approach. He helps others to improve people skills they find relevant and get top notch results. He also writes on his blog, People Skills Decoded.

What’s the most popular advice for achieving great things? It’s: “Work hard”. Since the age of seven, most of us have constantly been told by family, teachers, friends and public figures to study hard, work hard, and our efforts will be rewarded by getting ahead.

Now, I am a relatively lazy person. I enjoy very much things like free time, rest and relaxation. So getting this advice, I almost instinctively started searching for a way around it. And guess what? I found it!

I believe that working hard can be an important factor for achieving great results. And at certain points of our lives, if we want to do something big with them, we can’t avoid working hard. However, I also believe that working hard is not a constant necessity, and is just one of many factors with a lot of influence over our results.

Especially in my coaching practice, I have worked with a lot of professionals who managed to achieve great results without a 70-hour work week. Here are 3 of the most important ideas they applied to achieve more and work less:

1. Capitalize On Your Strengths

As a human being, you have naturally developed certain patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving which applied in certain areas, help you create great results. Use them. They will allow you to do more, faster and better. You will be performant in your tasks and you will make this look easy.

Not working in a way which allows you to fully use your natural strengths is just wasting your potential. Maybe you’re analytical and good at seeing cause-effect relations, maybe you are empathic and good and sensing other people’s emotions, maybe you are creative and good at seeing out-of-the box solutions. Whatever your strengths are, dedicate yourself to finding them and using them.

2. Delegate A Lot

You may be asking yourself: “What do I do with the tasks that need to be done but do not capitalize on my strengths?” Well, you find somebody else to do them, and you delegate them. Preferably, someone who can do them better than you, or at least will learn to do them better than you. This way, you save precious time.

One thing I constantly notice is that a lot of people are simply not used to working with others. To matching people’s tasks with people’s strengths and putting in some teamwork to generate the end results. Make a habit out of teamwork, out of delegating and you’ll see impressive results.

3. Learn To Say ‘No’

One major factor which makes people unproductive is the fact they invest time and effort in activities which have low value for them, for the sake of others. They are asked for help by colleagues, friends, neighbors, family and they can’t say no. This only encourages people to ask for even more help from them.

If you want to achieve great things, you most say no to some requests from others, so you can focus your time and energy on the tasks with the biggest return on investment for you. If you don’t know how to do this effectively or don’t have the emotional strength to do it, then this is something you will have to learn.

As you put these ideas into action, not only that you will be more productive, performant, but you will also get an internal sense of doing things right and getting closer to your goals. A feeling I find very meaningful.

Image: JustABoy

Only show up where you want to succeed, and don’t show up where success isn’t relevant to you.

is the quote I created and posted on Twitter, and the positive reaction I got signaled that I should discuss it further.  The quote comes from of this quote by Woody Allen:

Eighty percent of success is showing up.

Mine takes it a little further, saying that you succeed where you spend your time, and fail where you don’t.  I will give some details here.

You Learn Automatically

There are two parts to this that come to mind.  One is that you learn from mistakes in what you do, where you are, so you can’t learn good chess tactics if you aren’t playing chess matches, or how to best repair cuts on the skin if you aren’t in a clinic dealing with those issues, or so on.  Having a mind that is thinking you are doing X, when you are actually doing Y, will not get you better at doing X.

People Watch Where You Spend Your Time

Another issue is that people won’t take you seriously if you later want to switch into doing something you haven’t been putting time into.  They will question your interests if you say you will be doing something you have not put time into, which is quite fair as that time is a real representation of where your interests lie.

Are You Skilled At Something Useless?

The other side to this concept is that you need to look at if you are succeeding where you don’t want to succeed.  This is a bit disappointing at first, but it can lead you away from spending time where it doesn’t suit you.  If you are becoming an expert at car racing games, but don’t want that to represent who you are when others talk to you, you are going to need to not be on car racing games.  This is true for knowing a lot about certain TV shows, or knowing about celebrities, as becoming an expert in these fields isn’t what you want others to know you for.

Weigh The Options

If you spend 3 hours a day playing with yo-yos, you will end up getting real good with yo-yos.  On the other hand, that same amount of time spent each day memorizing vocabulary would soon put you in the top 10% of people, as far as vocabulary knowledge.  Yo-yo skills are very niche, and not as in demand, while a strong vocabulary makes all your communications smoother.

Verbalize Your Skills To See If You Are Proud Of Them

If you see that you are doing something often, tell yourself “I will soon be an expert in” whatever it is that you are doing often.  See if this is appealing to you.  At times, it will be, and at other times, it will be disturbing to see what you are becoming an expert in, when there are other things you’d rather see yourself as an expert in.

You’re Going To Succeed Somewhere

I don’t want to become an expert in celebrity gossip, YouTube comments, or 15th century art, so I would keep an eye out for if I was becoming an expert at any of those items.  I recommend doing the same.  You are going to succeed in some field, so it is good to fine-tune what your area of expertise is before it is fine-tuned for you.

Why should you be humble?  Cockiness has its benefits, but at the same time, if you are overconfident, and then make an error, which we all do from time to time, your error will come out looking worse than it normally would, because you will be torn down for putting out extra energy to bolster your attitude, instead of using that energy to avoid the mistake in the first place.

Your Appreciation Shows Understanding

This means to be appreciative in your actions.  Show people appreciation for what you have.  If you are in a good position, it is likely that someone helped you get there, and so you don’t want to step on them on your way up to an even better position.  They will still be there and there is no need to create animosity for no reason.  The word “animus” relates to the word “animosity” in that it represents an unfriendliness.

Modesty Is On Par With Showing Respect

Being humble shows a respect for whatever it is that you are doing.  Since people are much more supportive of a humble individual, and can be put off by a cocky person, being humble lets people know that you want their support, and aren’t looking to act out of line for your own short-term enjoyment.  When a humble person fails, no one is looking to tear them apart for their failure, because there was no presumptuousness present.  When someone is cocky and fails, everyone is ready to attack them for being so outlandish and forward in their behavior when their productive foundation was shaky.

Cockiness Leads To Stress

On a related note, a person who is cocky will always be more worried about possible failure, because that would cause them to have to acknowledge that their cockiness was unfounded.  That sense of worry adds anxiety that is unnecessary, and is completely obviated when humbleness is practiced.  If you are to have anxiety of any type, have it be in regard to something worthwhile and relevant, instead of an extended sense of self-worth that is only temporary each time it is displayed for others.

Example: Producing Content

When in the process of creating for others, it is wise to produce in such a way that you respect your listeners.  You need to put aside any feelings of exaggeration towards how valuable you are to others, and put that energy towards continued production.  People will let you know when you are starting to move out of line, versus when you are producing material in a calm and productive manner.  In this way, others are a constant feedback mechanism you can use to understand where you are in the humble/cocky spectrum.  This feedback is true in various other aspects as well, so it is wise to continue to deal with others as much as possible

Condescension Is A Mistake

The way you describe yourself and talk to others is easily perceived by those you are talking with as well as those who you aren’t talking to.  Both groups pick up on if you talk down to others, or talk to them as though they are equal, or commensurate, to you.  People assume that you will talk down to them if you are talking down to others.  Although some have not yet fully understood that we are all connected in our thoughts and the way we communicate, we innately respond to others as though we do understand this.

Viewing Others As Equals Opens Up The Conversation And Opportunities

Talking to others in a way that makes them feel as though they are not your equal serves no value to anyone, including you or them.  They will take it as an indirect message that you don’t value their presence, and you will not feel great once the interaction is over.  Much of the items I tend to point out relate to the concept that short-term gains are negligible in any comparison with that which can be gained by treating others with the same decency you provide yourself when you are in a focused state, or are using self-talk, or something of that nature.

It is important to get frustrated.  It means you still want something.  If you aren’t getting frustrated or energized by the mistakes you are making, you are on the wrong track.  If you are getting frustrated by them, you will soon clear up whatever it was that caused the confusion or error.  You might want to smile each time you feel frustrated because it means you haven’t given up.

Where You Are Versus Where You Want To Be

You tend to have an idea of what you want to do later on in your life.  This can create some incongruity in your mind between what you are currently doing and what you would like to be doing.  This is healthy and motivational.  At the same time, your level of current frustration is a good indicator of how far you will go.  If you are a budding entrepreneur that is currently held back in a way or two, or surrounded by folks that don’t understand your business plans, you may exhibit a high level of frustration.  This is fine, and you need to look at that as your greatest asset.

Examples Of This Phenomenon

Imagine a young Bill Gates or Donald Trump before they became established as a presence.  There was certainly frustration in their minds until the position they were in was the position they felt they were able to maintain.  I can see a young aspiring individual telling themselves “I can’t wait until…” because of their frustration with not being at the point they envision themselves in.  A young musician who sees himself adeptly playing guitar as part of a successful band will be disappointed with the unskilled members of his bands until he finally teams up with people at his level, which is when any fleeting past disappointment will become irrelevant and the aspiration will have been achieved.

Know That Disappointment Is A Signal Of Your Aspiration

When you hear yourself directly or indirectly complaining to others about wanting to do more, not less, although complaining is rarely useful, give yourself a pat on the back, because your frustration comes from wanting to rise.  The same people who I see angry about something that most others ignore are the same ones that rise in whatever field they were angry or frustrated about.  The person disappointed with a B+ in their class of interest is the same person that sees themselves mastering the material for future usage.  Where there is frustration is something of value.

You Are Most Troubled Right Before You Bring About Positive Change

It is also the tipping point.  The moment you beat yourself up over something is usually a moment or two before you find a way to fix it or learn how to overcome it.  Your anger or disappointment is a sign that you are not one of the folks that is able to be labeled a “quitter”.  A person who quits an activity out of wanting to reduce frustration may succeed in doing so, but also forfeits any of the larger gains that would show up from crossing the barrier of entry.  Before quitting something, it is good to recall that frustration is temporary but canceling a pursuit is usually not.

Are You Frustrated Enough?

On the other side of this issue is the question “Are you frustrated enough?”.  If you think you fit in this category, start going back to doing whatever it is that makes you feel a bit behind or needing to put in effort to catch up.  If it is a painful activity for you to return to, remember that you should not run from the pain, but go towards it.  These items like frustration, anger, pain, and related feelings of inferiority or disappointment are where your true nature comes out in an uninhibited fashion to conquer them.  There is no need to hold back your mind’s energy until some surprise future event brings your excitement back.  You can get your energy back without that.

Let’s say you’re an electrician who just finished three private jobs, fixing electrical problems at customer houses, which you acquired through word-of-mouth advertising, and you recognize that you have built up some productive momentum that is not common for you.  This is the situation in which you want to preserve the momentum for as long as possible.

Productive Time Is Worth Much More

The time you pass through while in the state of productive momentum is worth much more than your regular time where no trend of success is currently in place.  From a return-on-investment standpoint, you would want to maintain the majority of your time in a state of momentum, but this may not be readily doable by you with certain time commitments that you have which would get in the way.

Switch Mindset To Preserve Momentum

Regardless, there are times when you are in control, and have notched up a series of successes in a row.  The minute you detect this, switch into what I will call “preservation mode”.  Toss off any lower-relevance activities and continue to put effort into what brought you the successes.  Forget about other people or tasks, unless they were involved in the successes, and leverage your positive energy into more production.

Vocabulary Learning Example

If you have been trying to learn vocabulary words, for a lengthy period of time, and now just studied and learned words for forty minutes straight, you can do nothing better than to keep going.  If you need a five-minute break there, take it, but make sure your mind is planning to head right back into the memorization/learning that got you feeling productive already.  Your prioritization of continuing to study now is many times more valuable because of the future time you are saving.

Feed The Momentum And It Feeds You Success

In a state of momentum, you are energetic, positive from earlier successes, somewhat invincible in your mind, and have a brain that is completely warmed up for any work that immediately follows in the same activity.  All these advantages fade away quickly if you make the decision to postpone further effort.  Next time, you would have to start again from scratch, and might not have the interest to do so, resulting in discontinuation of the activity that brought you a feeling of success.  Feed the momentum and it will propel you toward your goal.