I guess it's a personal thing. For me, the reminder to look at hands worked. Perhaps when you did it, the activity of counting was enough to distract you and prevent you from realizing. Above all, the recommendation is to keep reminding yourself during your normal waking day to look at hands (or whatever routine you prefer). That's the key, to keep the technique in recent memory, which your dreaming self with any luck, will access.

My first ever lucid dream I was about 17, and the week before read about lucid dreaming for the first time. I don't think that's a coincidence. I read about lucid dreaming, then had one. This supports the theory of thinking about lucid dreaming in everyday life in order to trigger them.