Assume you aren't superhuman

A friend and I were sharing experiences on how we both had trouble sustaining new habits. I recounted how long breaks punctuated my "daily" exercise and meditation practice and she shared how she has to repeat courses to get back to good time management practices.

Unless you are superhuman, change is hard. Developing new skills and habits is hard. Consistent focus and practice are hard. These are hard because you are trying to change your default nature and programming.

So assume you are not superhuman. Assume you won't have focus and energy to do all you want, you will not follow through on some days, you will make mistakes, sometimes you will give up for months or altogether. This will help you avoid feeling guilty or bad when the inevitable happens, and instead adopt strategies that can work for our non-superhuman selves - like focusing on fewer things at a time, planning for how you will restart when you give up, for how you correct and grow when you make mistakes, for how you'll reenergize and enjoy with guilt-free off days.