The next attempt becomes different through a choice, not through its number.

Trying again is not the same as trying differently. The fourth attempt inherits everything from the third unless you deliberately alter something, and persistence without a change is mostly endurance. Counting attempts feels like progress because the number rises, but the number is not doing any work.

Before your next go at whatever has not worked, name one thing that will be different: the order, the time of day, the person you ask, the size of the piece you start with. Write it down so you can tell afterwards which change mattered. One deliberate variation teaches more than five identical repeats.