A person’s repeated phrases reveal what occupies their inner world.

The phrases someone returns to over and over are a window into their preoccupations. The recurring complaint, the joke they always make, the thing they always compare situations to: each is a small window into what is being carried around and turned over.

Notice your own repetitions, which is harder and more useful. What do you say often, especially without noticing. That phrase is pointing at something occupying you. Following it back is frequently a faster route to what is actually going on than any amount of direct introspection.