Hearing a Call?...
Discerning means taking time to pray, be a disciple, ask questions, grow up, gather knowledge and experience, make a prayerful decision, and act on it.
Discernment
Discernment requires an openness to God’s Will, to be able to lay everything at the foot of the Cross and to be a servant of Christ in whatever capacity He calls us to do. God is not one who forces His Will upon us, but rather reveals His mystery to us and invites us deeper into it. There is a call for every Christian man to imitate Christ, and the life of a Brother or a Priest-Brother offers a profound way to imitate Him. When we spend time in prayer, we hear the Lord speaking to us, asking us to do not what is best for ourselves, but what brings Him the greatest honor, glory, and praise.
Through this, He shows us in different periods – great and small – what our vocation ultimately is and how best we can approach Him with these desires that He has placed on our hearts.
Prayer
Strive to spend 20+ minutes of prayer each day with Scripture or the Rosary mysteries. Level up: Spend a half hour at least one day a week with Jesus in Eucharistic Adoration. Make a pilgrimage for your discernment. Pray a novena for your discernment. Read/listen to Scripture daily, such as the Mass readings.
Be a practicing Catholic man: Go to monthly confession and Sunday mass. Live the moral life. Help in your parish. Work with people. Become a man of service. Aim for: one extra weekday mass during the week (or more); 30 minutes of Adoration once a week
Ask questions
Ask questions, lots of questions. What was it like... how did you....
Grow up
You heard it right. Commit to personal growth where you need it. Know and build on your strengths, and know and improve on your weaknesses too. The popular new discernment book "A Living Sacrifice" has wise advice in this vein.
Gather Data
Web research is a start, but communicating with Brothers and Priests and coordinating visits to their communities is a way that God will reveal His heart to you and your heart to you. Knowledge and first-hand experience is key.
Make a prayerful decision
God has been revealing Himself to you through movements of His Spirit as you have visited a community(s). During the times that you are right with God, in frequent Confession and Communion, to where does His peace direct you? Where is His peace affirming you to go next? In which direction does your faith, hope, and love grow? In which direction are you becoming a holier man? Write it down. Meet with a priest or spiritual director if you can and share with him.
Act
Take an active step toward God's will. Rarely does God reveal His whole plan for our lives to us. But He shines light on the next good step. Maybe that's requesting and submitting an application, to begin the first stage of postulancy in a community. Take courage; seek His Sacred Heart; and go for it.
Don't forget to go and meet real live Brothers and Priests. They don't bite. They were in your shoes (sandals?) too just a few years ago....