Play with the recenter and weapon select buttons for a few minutes on your next 10 flights after you take off. That will help you develop new habits.
Visualize contact and give yourself verbal cues like "fights on, check weapons and drop tanks" so you don't fight heavy or drop the tanks the first time you fire secondary.
The sensor doesn't need to be centered, just unobstructed. It's not as fussy as TrackIR.