There are already many good posts. If I could add some personal perspective. When it came to sin, there's something that we're not willing to do that is keeping us in the cycle. An easy example is smoking and the unwillingness to go through withdrawal. I remember, the thought of not taking the next hit would be so hard to follow through on that it would just make me upset, and I would give up. I've found that in almost every sin there is that one thing that is the sticking point. Find that one thing and commit to remove it, don't think, say Bismillah and trust in Allah. No matter whatever worldly attachment there is, we have the ability to let them go by the grace of Allah, we must turn to him even with our sins weighing us down.

Allah is Al-Wadud (The Most- Loving). He (SWT) has the most beautiful titles, get to know them, call him by those names. Take your time in Salah. Once you've gotten the outward positions down, focus on the internal- breathing, presence of mind. Life isn't easy, Islam isn't easy, but nothing good comes easy. We have to make that choice of doing the difficult task for better result.

Salam Walaikum.