You know, the thing about “just keeping at the habit until it sticks” is kind of a double-edged sword.
Persistence is key, yes. But I find in my own life that there are some routines I simply never habituate to. I can keep at it for weeks or months, and the second something derails me (illness, a family emergency, some disruption outside my control) it just vanishes. There’s no baseline to go back to, It’s like I never had the habit to begin with. I have to put in all the conscious effort to rebuild the routine from the beginning.
That’s the thing I’ve had to make peace with: some things just don’t stick. On the one hand, it’s frustrating. On the other hand, that puts me in “starting over” and “learning” mode, which I do enjoy.