Apologies only account for that which they do not alter.

An apology explains, and it does not undo. The words matter and they cannot reach back into what happened, which is why repeated apologies for the same thing start to sound like a substitute for stopping. Saying sorry well is one step; the part that counts is the change afterwards, and the person harmed can tell the difference easily. Regret without adjustment is just a comfortable ritual.

If you have apologised twice for the same behaviour, skip the third apology and change the arrangement that keeps producing it. Then let the change be the thing that speaks.