I like the way you can easily formulate nice deep questions to ponder on.
I’d say… There can’t be any precise, general, universal path to improving the self, simply because each individual in itself is like a little cosmos. There are simply too many facets and factors in life that could deter you from your path (that is if you know your path).
In a nutshell, I’d say your next step in improving the self is to face the issue that you resist most, the thing that gives you the hardest times, nightmares, that attacks you.
So this could look completely different for people. For instance, someone might be depressed, and he / she clearly needs to overcome this, because it would drastically improve all of life. But let’s say someone lives in a war zone… They must struggle to survive each day somehow.
When i think of myself, i had overcome issues of self worth, alcohol, mindset… But for instance, yeonmi park escaped from north Korea in an absolutely horrific way that no human in no lifetime should ever need to experience.
So each person has challenges in various areas. And that’s why those guidelines wouldn’t quite apply. They’re still useful though. For instance i believe meditation is useful for everyone. But how could you meditate when you’re struggling to survive?
I know it’s not a good answer really, but a general guideline simply can’t encompass everyone entirely. What could be done is listening to an individual’s story, then based on that give a guideline.
Yet even then they still have a choice not to listen. It’s complicated