The first step to personal awakening is to open your eyes and finally look around you. Some people use the metaphor of climbing a mountain while others may think of climbing down the mountain.  I like to think about it as becoming aware for the first time of where we actually are, visualizing the world around us, and slowly picking up the trash, designing our home, and deciding who we want to let in.

The first step to any self-awakening is self-examination, which is just a fancy way of saying, getting to know oneself. So the first step in any journey is to go inward and get to know yourself. You can't climb up or down a mountain until you first figure out where you are and where you want to go.