Reflection

Most people find it incredibly difficult to reflect on themselves and their actions for the simple reason that they are afraid of what they might find.  We as individuals have two basic senses of ourselves: who we think we are, and who we think we want to be.  Most people spend the majority of their time trying to be their ideal self as opposed to learning about and embracing the person they already are.  The simple answer as to why people do this is that it is easier.  It is easier to pretend to be someone you are not because then you don't have to take responsibility for who you really are.  Furthermore, self reflection takes time and effort.  You have to be open to the idea that if you look at your self objectively (at least as much as possible) you may discover some things you wish you hadn't.  What people often don't think about is that everything you learn about yourself needn't fall into categories of "good" or "bad".  We've all done things we're not proud of but that doesn't mean we're bad people.  Getting to know yourself is both the hardest and one of the most important things to do in life because when we learn what our flaws are we will better know how to manage them.  If, for example, you discover that you have a strong emotional reaction to, let's say, politics or religion then maybe it's better not to talk about those things with people you don't know well.  Save that stuff for your friends who will (theoretically) accept that that's a part of you. 
Another reason why people often find self reflection challenging is that they confuse abilities with choices.  If we all thought about it long enough we would probably discover that we are capable of doing some pretty horrific things.  That's life.  Just because we CAN doesn't mean we WILL.  For example, say you're walking through a department store and you see some gadget or other that you really really really really really really want but can't afford.  Now, you have two choices: (1) steal the gadget and hope you don't get caught, or (2) get over it.  I think (or hope at least) that most of us would choose the latter because we know that stealing is wrong.  Not many of us worry about the fact that we do have the physical and mental traits that enable us to steal the fancy gadget.  We just don't do it.  This idea can work in almost any context.  Short of having a physical or mental disorder that causes you to lose control over a part of yourself, we all have the ability to make the right decision.  We're just afraid that we won't.