I am pretty critical of myself, and I never thought of myself as an impulsive person, but I do procrastinate and sometimes play solitaire on the computer for hours, kind of like gambling except without the financial consequences. This explains it very well.

I never imagined that to be better at doing things I need to be less critical of myself. I always thought that I would fail because I wasn't hard enough on myself. This will be another one of the examples I will cite when people complain that the government wastes money on psychological research for things that are so "obvious."

I do have a question, though. You say that locomotion and assessment are two aspects of self-regulation. So is assessment a good and necessary component of it? I have three possibilities in my head:

• High assessment is good, but effective only when coupled with high locomotion.
• Some assessment is good, but levels too high will distract you and counteract your ability to maintain goal-directed behavior.
• Assessment is something that, on its face, seems good for self-regulation, but it isn't really necessary and may actually be harmful.

Again, thank you for your enlightening post, and thanks in advance for your response.

Thanks for the reply. Of the three possibilities that you list, the second fits the theory and research best. We have to assess our plans and goals as part of self-regulation and goal pursuit, but as you note, too much will counteract the ability to act. So, the art of successful goal pursuit from the perspective of assessment and locomotion is just enough assessment to choose the best goals and plans, and lots of locomotion to keep you moving ahead.
cheers,
tim