It does take practice and willingness to be able to acknowlege, challenge those thoughts and pivot -

You know, my university degrees taught me none of this - and I never pursued self awareness or looking inwards because of x,y,z reasons (it wasn't a priority then) - it was only after a life changing event that I started to focus on these things and joining a support group also gave me a lot of insights on the benefits of meditation and such -

Excellent post, friend