The effort that did not win can still leave you better prepared for a different opening.

Losing a particular contest is not the same as losing what the contest built in you. The application you did not get still taught you how to describe your work; the interview that went badly still showed you which question you cannot yet answer. Those things stay when the outcome goes. The next opportunity arrives to someone who has already done the practice.

After something does not go your way, wait until the sting has softened and then write down two things you can now do that you could not before. Keep what you made. Then treat the next attempt as the second draft it actually is.