Ah that makes quite a lot of sense and I'd definitely find myself with that bad habit if I tried flying. In a sim my purpose is to have fun flying the plane by the seat of my pants but flying in reality would have me anxious to avoid breaking any rules.
No need to anxious. Your CFI is there to keep you safe and prevent anything wildly dangerous while you’re teaching yourself to fly.
Look outside, and learn what correct looks like. References on the ground are already giving you gobs of information. The feel of the yoke and the sounds from the engine are also giving you continuous clues about what the airplane is doing. No sim I’ve seen reproduces all of those additional channels of information.
Where simulators are really helpful is with procedural flying, like practicing instrument approaches. You can’t log your desktop sim for currency, but advanced training devices are good enough in the FAA’s eyes.
> flying in reality would have me anxious to avoid breaking any rules
You’re generally operating well away from a perilous state with ample margins of safety. I find flying incredibly relaxing.