Svadhyaya

Just recently I was recommended to practice Svadhyaya...
The fourth Niyama.
Sva means "self' or "belonging to me." Adhyaya means"inquiry" or "examination". The word Svadhyaya literally means, "to get close to something." It means to get close to yourself, that is, to study yourself. It teaches us to be centered and non-reactive to the dualities, to burn out unwanted and destructive tendencies.
The more I think about the definition of this, the more I study this, I contemplate how I might be asked to self study myself when one has not done this themselves? How can one ask of anyone to do what they have not done themselves? If this Niyama teaches us to be centered and non-reactive to the dualities, to burn out unwanted and destructive tendencies, how can I be told to do this by one who is still living a self destructive pattern and lifestyle, isn't this contradictory of the "practice"?
Niyamas are described as "self discipline" in the sutras the Yamas and the Niyamas are the very way in which we are taught to live our lives by, the 10 commandments of yoga if you will.

"The five points of yama, together with the five points of niyama, remind us of the Ten Commandments of the Christian and Jewish faiths, as well as of the ten virtues of Buddhism. In fact, there is no religion without these moral or ethical codes. All spiritual life should be based on these things. They are the foundation stones without which we can never build anything lasting. (127)"
— Sri S. Satchidananda (The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: Commentary on the Raja Yoga Sutras by Sri Swami Satchidananda)

So I ask, if these yamas and niyamas are the "foundation stones without which we can never build anything lasting," how can I be asked to 'self study' by someone who is not living by this standard themselves?

I have done a lot of self study and growth and because of this I am able to see quite clearly and without judgment, however I do take offense to being told that I should self study as a deflection of one's actions that one should study themselves...leads back to the old saying.."never throw stones when living in a glass house"