Motivation is a very common topic in psychology. The definition states that motivation is the process by which activities are started, directed, and continued so that physical or psychological needs or wants are met. Motivation has components of biological, emotional, social, and cognitive forces that initiate behavior. The process of motivation can be described as activation, persistence, and intensity. A decision to initiate a behavior would be activation. An example of this could be enrolling in a class. The continued effort toward a goal is the persistence part. The effort continues even though obstacles may present themselves throughout the way. An example of this could be continuing to take classes in order to get a degree even though it is time and energy consuming. Lastly, the concentration and strive that goes into pursuing the goal is intensity. This intensity can range from barely putting any effort in, to putting in countless hours of work. Motivation can fall into two different categories. These are extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic motivations arise from outside of a person and they often have rewards like money, social recognition or praise. Intrinsic motivations arise from inside a person and have to do with personal gratification. It makes them feel good so they are motivated to do it. Two very common theories on motivation are the Drive-Reduction Theory and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The Drive-Reduction Theory says that there are two kinds of need: primary and secondary. Primary needs are the survival needs like hunger and thirst. Secondary needs are ones that are learned through experience like money and approval. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a pyramid of 8 stages that a person goes through in their life. The person can move up and down the pyramid throughout their life but hopefully they will eventually get to the top. There are many examples from my life of how I have been motivated to accomplish g