One device I haven't found, but wish existed, is a keyboard that doesn't accept input from the "wrong" finger. I'd even be fine if it required the operator to affix a little decal to each fingertip.

My touch-typing has been wonky since forever; I do use all my digits, but I sporadically cheat with my right index finger.

This has gone on for years, but I'll bet I'd lick it within a couple weeks, given a device that just doesn't respond when the operator presses the 'G' key with the wrong finger.

It’s the things that do not have direct impact on my current life that I need insight on how to find motivation on.

The example from the article of learning languages comes to mind. Nearly impossible when at home in the US, but amazingly easy when I know I’m going somewhere (or even on the train or plane on the way there - the vocab and sentences just get uploaded). Anyone have insight on hacking this internal motivational learning system for more abstract goals?

It seems so easy for some, but for me, I’m like the author when there is direct impact on my daily life, it’s easy to learn but the abstract goals are somehow so much harder. As people on hacker news are obviously really great learners, I hope some of you can share your approaches to this problem.

I think it's great to learn how to type more efficiently (especially if you're coding or demonstrating in front of an audience), but for coders, typing is not the bottleneck (unless you truly hunt-and-peck), so the comparison to a violinist is not valid. Learning shortcut keys is probably at least as important as typing fast.