I started painting a "daily apple" about a week ago.  I've faithfully painted them everyday so far. I'll try to post my daily apple here when I get a chance. Here is my apple from yesterday:

So far the benefits have been:

1.  I paint every day.  Even though some days I don't have the time to paint, I certainly can fit in a brief period of time to paint an apple.

2. I've found that I paint more loosely which is a goal of mine.

3. I progressively see improvement.

4. It warms me up for my regular painting day.

5. It makes me feel good and gives me confidence and makes me exited to paint, paint, paint!

Give it a try if it suits you. It doesn't have to be an apple but make it something small so that it doesn't feel burdensome. It should always be fun!

This one step, choosing a goal and sticking to it, changes everything.  ~ Scott Reed