Raise your standards slowly enough that they become sustainable.

A sharp rise in standards feels decisive and usually collapses, because nothing underneath supports it. Raising them gradually gives the habits, the skills, and your ordinary life time to adjust, and each new level becomes the new normal rather than a strain you are enduring. The slow version arrives higher in the end.

When you want to expect more of yourself, choose an increase you could still meet in a difficult month. Hold it until it is unremarkable, then raise it again. The pace feels frustratingly modest and it does not fall over.