The reason people seek deviance and degeneracy is usually because their dopamine receptors are fried, due to them constantly being constantly pumped from easy unnecessary pleasures
And when something stops doing it for you, you have to go not one step lower, but one floor lower
Milestones are a much more reliable "checkpoint", because when you reach it you won't have ended your journey, but you will know that you've advanced
And that should be enough to keep you going
Also, learning to love the process rather than the reward is a huge plus