What is my motivation?

I've written many times about motivation but perhaps wasn't very explicit. Motivation is important because without some understanding of what drives us we cannot decide on whether an outcome is beneficial. 

A simple example would be that I have a pain in my foot which then motivates me to go to the doctor. My motivation is to eliminate the pain. Another one would be that I am motivated to exercise because it makes me feel good plus it keeps me healthy. I am depressed and I need to see a therapist is yet another example of motivation. 

In all cases we are moving towards improving life quality. 

Motivation involving more complex psychological drivers can be harder to understand. One can be motivated to gamble without intrinsically understanding what lies beneath the compulsion. Is it the thrill of risk, the potential promise of a payoff? 

We humans behave in ways that aren't always steeped in self comprehension which is why sometimes our behaviour can be self destructive. The woman who is beaten by her husband and keeps going back may think she somehow deserves it because she is not worthy of love. 

She has internalized low sense of self worth. 

Motivation for any complex life decision or action requires analysis which considers risk and benefit. Otherwise we aren't taking into account potential negative outcomes we may not be willing to live with. 

We ask ourselves "is my motivation to do something going to lead to a more positive and healthy version of me or am I helping someone else to improve their life?"