Life is a process of goal-directed action. This applies both to the vegetative level
(e.g., one’s internal organs) and to the level of purposeful choice (Locke and
Latham, 1990). The conscious mind is the active part of one’s psychology; one has
the power to volitionally focus one’s mind at the conceptual level (Binswanger,
1991; PeikoV, 1991). Volition gives one the power to consciously regulate one’s
thinking and thereby one’s actions. Goal setting theory (Locke and Latham, 1990,
2002) rests on the premise that goal-directedness is an essential attribute of
human action and that conscious self-regulation of action, though volitional, is
the norm.