Tricks for exploring new languages?

Here’s my problem. There are a bunch of languages I want to explore more (Clojure, Haskell, Go). I’ve wanted to do this for some time. I haven’t done it. I’ve mentioned this before.

At it’s simplest and most fundamental, this comes down to poor self-management stemming from an inaccurate personal vision. That is, “If it’s important, you’ll find a way. If not, you’ll find an excuse.”

But, setting aside deep-level character hacking, there’s got to be something to make this easier. Part of the problem is that Python is so smooth, I’ve been with it so long and most of the technologies I want to interact with have a strong Python component. Any time I have an itch that needs scratching, Python is the comforting abrasive of choice. I can do whatever it is about 10x faster with it than with another, new language.

Perhaps all I need to do is gird my loins and prepare myself for the confusion and time expenditure that comes with learning anything new.

Gentle reader, do you have any tips for escaping the Python gravity well and exploring languages unknown?