Fans cheer when you win. Followers stay when you lose. Know which ones you’re building.

Enthusiasm during good stretches is cheap and it tells you nothing, because everybody is pleasant when things are working. The useful measurement is who is still around on a bad week, and those two groups are rarely the same people. Mixing them up means building your sense of standing on something that disappears exactly when you need it. Knowing which is which in advance is worth more than a bigger crowd.

Think about the last time something of yours went badly and who checked in. Put your time there this week instead of into the wider group that turns up for the highlights.