I would like to offer a thought, which can perhaps change that approach. This thought is so powerful, that if you read it just once, you will undoubtedly yearn for the first chance that comes your way to do teshuva. If you read it twice, you will become a tzaddik. Three times I'm not sure. If you try it, let me know!

Here's the thought.
Teshuva is commonly translated as repentance'. That's tough, who wants to repent? But the more correct translation is return', and that makes all the difference!! To return indicates: living life closer to what it should be.

We all have ideals, goals, dreams. We would like life to be a certain way, while reality leads us astray. We let our weaknesses take hold of us, causing us to act in ways we ourselves aren't happy with. We are frail in our abilities to withstand temptations of all sorts.

Time for TESHUVA! Time to take our obligations more seriously, strengthen our resolve, be sturdier in our convictions. Above all, it's time to live life in the ultimate way, in the best and most proper form we realistically can. This is not a pink, utopian dream, not at all. This is the real outcome of taking teshuva seriously, and of seeking to actualize the tremendous potential that this period of time contains.

One more thought, that is closely related. Teshuva may strike us as heavy and serious - the antithesis of simcha. Can it be so?

Impossible!! Didn't we just say that teshuva is to live life more like it should be?
That requires MORE simcha, not less! How can it possibly be otherwise?

Yes, teshuva is serious. A serious approach to Torah will almost by definition focus on intensifying the simcha one experiences in doing mitzvos. On feeling more and more of the sublime, exhilarating awareness of closeness to Hashem. That is definitely serious, yet not at all uninviting. On the contrary, it's very pleasant and appealling. It's something I look forward to all year - I can't wait!
(see also Shem Mishmuel regarding the importance of intensifying the simcha of doing mitzvos, as an essential part of the teshuva process of Yemey Hadin).

It all hinges on one word. On the realization that the ultimate translation of teshuva is "return".

It's up to you. Please, make the most of it!