Uh, ok... but what if my first thought is "wow, this sounds great!"? I mean, there's got to be a point where we can be happy with what we're playing, right? Honestly, a lot of times I'll hear accomplished players over-play stuff... its as if they just cannot resist the urge to add complexity simply to show off their chops, when a simpler, more under-stated line might really have been the better choice.

If I had to put my finger on probably a more practical tip, especially given the example, "sloppy playing" is that much of the time we don't practice slowly enough, myself included. Its taken some real self-discipine for me to slow stuff waaaay down, so that I'm not practicing mistakes, to realize that is actually the shortest path to playing fast & cleanly.