It's Like The Old Joke

you should be grateful you are not female! I got sick of clients talking to my chest!

You're right - eye contact is important.  It's a valuable means of building rapport and it signifies openness and helps build trust.  Your objective is to make eye contact a natural part of your communication process, not something you have to think about, or consciously 'do'. To achieve this, you need to get used to making eye contact,  get comfortable doing it and break out of that out of that mode of having to think about it. Easier said than done?  Barmy as it may seem, start by practising in the mirror (maybe lock the door!) - at the very least you'll start to get a taste of how lack of eye contact comes across.  Then start to practise on unsuspecting friends and family; in other words in a non-threatening 'safe' environment where you are not having to think about too many other things.  As you become comfortable over time, you'll find that you naturally extend this to professional communication.  It may take a while, but persevere on the domestic front and before you know it you'll be doing in professional front - completely automatically.