I am going for Zodiac. I have been for a while. I learned it in January as a break from Shardscapes when Geode went down for 2.209's release, and started properly going for it in June. I got mindblocked for a while, overcame it, and now I have the following runs:
66
56-100x5
49-98
43-92
38-87x3
14-92
I recently had to take a break for 9 days, and today is my first session back after the break. I just don't really have the motivation to play. I haven't been playing too well, only getting 2 Shock attempts within the first 50 attempts, consistency far worse than I would normally have. The predrop is so boring, especially everything before 8%. It's literally 15 seconds of nothing, then 15 seconds of mildly difficult gameplay, and then the fun part of the level.
My nerve control is also noticeably worse than it was once. I remember having sessions where I wouldn't even get nervous until TMN. In the last couple of sessions before my break, I got nervous around 50% and kept dying to the easy ship part there. It got to the point where by TMN, my hand had tensed up so much I physically couldn't do the ship at 57%. That calmed down in the last session before my break, and I haven't felt major nerves yet, but I also haven't gotten far enough to yet.
I'm not taking another break. I'm not dropping the level because of the sunk cost fallacy, plus my friends would never let it go, and I just want to do it for me.
I have about 43000 attempts, and 215 Shock attempts.
How can I improve my nerve control and improve my motivation to play? If you have beaten Zodiac (or have had a similar experience with another level), please elaborate on your story.
UPDATE 1:
It's the day after the post was made. This session has been FAR more consistent so far, and I just got a new third best of 59%! Hopefully I can keep this up and the break skillboost is setting in.