Hi, Smarky!
As people already wrote here, your "loop" is very common. Especially among the smart people.
In fact it is a certain type of motivation. People usually know about positive-negative motivation. Passive-Active aspect of it is much less advertised. It is also an axis between two poles. On the poles are the two extreme cases. One is a foolhardy person, who rushes to do things even before listening what has to be done. On the other pole is a person who thinks everything through before moving his finger. There is no good or bad in this division. Both poles have their advantages and disadvantages in certain situations. Both of these approaches can be effective. And of course most people fall somewhere in the middle of these two poles. The big revelation is that one can practice to adjust his behavior along this axis. Like everything else in our mind this is not set in stone.
I myself is the "analyzing type". I usually think a lot and usually come up with a good solution. But I would never be among the first people who jump on a new opportunity. So I've practiced and learned to switch on the "fast guy" mode to seize opportunities. Now I can have the best of both worlds. I can seize opportunities and then think through how can I make the best out of it.