How to restore interest in learning after a long hiatus?

I actually began learning Japanese in, oh, 2008? There wasn’t nearly as much access to materials but definitely a lot of interest in… well, why does anyone learn Japanese?

But with time I found myself both not improving (couldn’t do the tests) and losing interest, both in anime and culture, and never regained it (not for not trying, but anyone can transform with 14 years of lifestyle changes).

I gave up on Japan temporarily after the Fukushima disaster, them again as I came to learn it’s just not immigrant-friendly. And that was 2014. Since then, the eternal pandemic has done *wonders* to everywhere’s economy and culture (/s)

But I STILL came back to learn the language super recently because… I dunno, Because I don’t like dropping things unfinished after working on them for so long?

Anyway I failed the N5 practice exams and had no time to re-learn it all for the real thing, so I’ve basically lost everything past Kana reading. I think this lack of reason has really put a mental block on any progress. How do I get my drive back, find a new purpose to what I’m doing? Or am I wasting my time?