Chess players can be up a whole rook and still get checkmated. Count what matters, not just what’s ahead.

Being ahead on material and being ahead in the position are two different facts, and only one of them is on the scoreboard. A player counting captured pieces can walk straight into a mate while feeling comfortable, because the thing that decides the game was never the thing being counted. Easy scores lull you.

Ask what the actual decider is in whatever you are measuring: not hours studied but questions you can answer, not shifts worked but money left at the end. Count that this week, even if the other number looks better.