I am 50/50 on if a conscious self-reflection will give you the birds-eye view. For some it might work, for me it doesn't.

Meditation definitely achieves that for me however.

And paying a bit more attention to each moment is less harsh than than trying to increase numeric metrics of “good” or “evil” each day. Paying attention is simple enough you can tell if you are having trouble with it or not without numbers. Although people are good at fooling themselves, they are also able to see thru a brick wall given enough time and stillness.