Motivation

Motivation

What drives people to do the things they do? Ninety five percent of the things we do are from the motivation within us. People work out to lose weight, people work to make money, people play instruments to hopefully become rockstars; all of this derives from motivation. "Motivation is an inner state that energizes behavior toward the fulfillment of a goal." (316) Motivation is a dynamic process and is constantly changing with new interests.

Genes may also build our motivation. Depending on your genes, depends on the type of motivation you have. You can be more aggressive

than others, doing whatever it takes to reach your goal; or be more laid back and less aggressive

. Charles Darwin's theory believed that every human being is born with an instinct which is, "an unlearned, relatively fixed pattern of behavior that is essential to a species' survival." (317)

People are sometimes motivated to achieve and maintain an optimal level of arousal and reduce arousal. People are motivated to reduce arousal to return to homeostatis, which is the body returning to its normal relaxed state once the need is meet. When people are at low levels of arousal, it is just as uncomfortable as high levels. The bodies performance level works best at an intermediate state of arousal.

According to Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs, he states that basic physiological needs such as food, water, and shelter should be met first. Once the first basic need is met and the level of arousal returns to homeostasis, the next need, safety and security needs are in affect. Next comes social needs, which strives people for love, friendship, and belongingness. The last two needs are esteem, and self-actualization. Esteem deals with, receiving respect, being confident, achievement and power. Sef-actualization drives a person toward achievement their goal and fulfilling their potential. All of these needs initiate motivation in all people.