just show up
I have always been a person who struggles with staying consistent with hobbies and habits. I tend to fall prey to "shiny object syndrome" and constantly get distracted by new and novel things without finishing what I started.
Whenever I did this, I got discouraged because I felt guilty for abandoning the old thing. This created a sort of feedback loop where my guilt caused me to not put my full effort into the new thing I'm doing, which eventually led to losing interest and finding another thing to do.
But around this time last year, I was resolute on committing to something for the long term. That something happened to be learning Japanese! I've always had an interest in the language and had dipped my toe into learning Hiragana and Katakana when I was a teenager. I had also passively absorbed some of the language by watching anime.
I told myself, "No matter how tired or down you feel, just show up." I set myself a goal of learning 20 new words every day. It seemed like a lot at first, but starting small helped me build momentum. Once I began my daily practice, finishing those 20 words became easy. As of the time of writing, I have clocked exactly 355 days in Anki (spaced repetition software) and have learnt over 7000 words.1
I was hellbent on keeping this habit alive because I actually enjoy learning Japanese and could see myself having a practical use for the language in the future. The goal was to make it as easy as possible for me to learn Japanese, which is why I've kept at it.
I found solutions for every obstacle. Going on vacation? Get an offline learning app. Using different computers? Install Anki on all your devices. Need new words to learn? Open a Japanese test prep list and pick 20 words.
I use this same approach for going to the gym, learning to draw, and even writing. It works for any skill because showing up regularly already puts you ahead of 99% of people. Just show up; you only fail if you quit.