Any suggestions on disciplining yourself to pray

I was born and raised Shia. However, during my teenage years, i had a really bad phase that included distancing myself from everything I was born into. Now that I've grown up, I do see the value in shiism and the value in praying. I struggle a lot when it comes to praying and I can't ask my family for help because they'll react very negatively. I have so many ups and downs. I go through phases where I pray every prayer and on time, and then another phase where I pray only one prayer a day.

Sometimes I wonder if the problem is my connection to Allah SWT but what I'm seeing most people and sheikhs say is that at first you have to force yourself and then gradually, that connection will build. But forcing myself is what I cannot seem to do.

My question is do you have any suggestions on how to make myself pray? Any micro habits or even normal habits that helped in disciplining yourself to pray?