A strong standard protects quality when nobody feels inspired.

Inspiration is unreliable, and any level of quality that depends on it will appear irregularly. A standard is what holds the work up when you feel nothing, because it is external to your mood, a rule about what leaves your hands rather than a feeling about what you want to make. That is the whole point of having one.

Write down what your work must include regardless of how you feel. Keep it short and checkable. Then apply it on a flat day, and notice that the output is far closer to your good days than it would otherwise have been.