I use Tarot as a study of life and my core reflection. My intuition trumps Tarot when needed, and if there's an "itch to scratch" as to whether something is off or my BS meter is going off, then that's when I use it. If my meter is going off and something feels wishy washy, then I tend to hold off on finishing the reading and allowing more things to manifest. Usually it's something not yet settled in the balance... just because a card pops up in a position does not mean it's fully manifested and knowing the difference is the difference between true fortune-telling and guessing... usually ends up being correct. Readings don't complete themselves at every seating, and I don't expect this of myself, and so I think tend to read things as a work in progress, the flow of life being studied. I don't believe in being absolutionist about reading outlooks and I feel one should never conduct themselves that way when looking for both deep answers to matters of life AND an accurate outlook... it's either down or forward... you either go deep, or forward, but one at a time, not at the same time... looking inward or outward (to my other relationships). For the most part, I read inward, but when I read outward it gives me extra oomph because I'm not overly encumbered by energies and situations manifesting on the outside... I'm more focused on how my own "ping" affects this and that... so I notice my outcome readings tend to ring more true to their nature than false. It's often a complex outcome though... sometimes outlook is just an obstacle cleared, it's not a 'true' fortune-telling... i.e. we won't spoil the plot, but you're about to pass this point and wink wink--nudge nudge--what would make sense to happen after that point?... is usually the way I read outcome cards.
Reason this is important, focusing inward... we do a lot to self-defeat ourselves in terms of actually obtaining our most important desires. So it's important to keep that in check in terms of intuition. For example, the hardest path may very well bear more fruits, but when most people are reading, they are looking for the 'easiest', 'most comfortable' setting in which to achieve this by default (per our own conditioning)... as such, I think self-readings are generally successful when we accept the hardest fought conclusions may not pan out and that those objects may be out of our favor if we are not willing to fight. Hell it may be an issue of
you can't overcome this, because of some habit to over-analyze situations,
or even this relationship finally breaking away some of the concrete of your worst, most detrimental habits
. So that may be all the positive outcome really was. A new relationship with the self (Lovers). As such... it may change your outlook entirely... especially if you can tell whether the cards have left planet "you". I usually ask with relationship readings... "Did we leave our own atmosphere?"
when first opening up the CC. i.e. is the focal point of the situation on me or them? Because I want revealing answers, not functional storylines or unsolidified outcomes. If we're focusing inward we start there and usually takes a few CC's before we get into about what will manifest in a situation... either way, I trust my intuition enough to tell me where the cards are leading me and I use reversals to show "holes" in the situation I need to channel more information on when feeling lost... not true reversals. Otherwise, they're part of the reading's humorous banter part of daily readings when in communication.
For example, Lovers may be a great card for some to get out in outcome... for me, it's a true fork and it's one thing sacrificed to achieve what's best for the self. I always ask, is this "on path" or is this where I take my exit? That sacrifice may not be reciprocal, i.e., it may not be worth it all said and done... so while the reading and reality may seem to correlate at the time of reading, it may be that subconsciously we sabotage the outcome too, since we know somewhere it is not ultimately right for us, as some sort of all-important sacrifice would have to be made...
I honestly don't know how to put this up better than that, but I think reading for oneself is a great use of Tarot. In fact, it's 98% of my usage. Easily. Even when I read others, I want it to be pointing inward so I can enlighten myself in terms of what my intuition is saying and just focus on trusting that because that usually yields better results. I hardly care about outcomes, so they come on their own as needed, and as the cards don't bother wasting my time with things that aren't true to form. I notice more often they come out to be what they say in the cards... if we force an outcome reading too soon, we are unintentionally adding in my own strong (and often self-focused) ambitions into the situation, which almost always ruins fortune telling readings imo.
Either way, YMMV may vary depending on your relationship with the cards, but this is how I function as a reader. I almost never read relationships until I get an itch. It usually just leads to bored analyzing of an otherwise mundane situation. Unless I'm wanting to practice a new reading technique.