Motivation is gotten from a latin verb "movere" which means to move.
It can be seen as an inner force or desire to achieve a particular goal. Motivation is that internal force that urges an individual to work towards a particular goal until that goal is been achieved.
Motivation could be either intrinsic or extrinsic.
It is regarded intrinsic when a person is triggered to carry out a duty for its own value or sake. e.g an individual that doesn't study medical science may motivate him/herself to gain knowledge about different aspect of the human body. in short, intrinsic motivation can be said to be a motivation that comes with the drive of discovering new things.
On the other hand, motivation is extrinsic when an individual is triggered to do something for the benefits associated with it. e.g an individual may be motivated to study medicine with the intention of making money from it.
This type of motivation comes when we have something to gain from it.
WHY ARE WE MOTIVATED?
Motivation is a psychological property common to all humans in this planet earth.
In everything we do, there's an element of motivation backing us up.
In respect to this amazing theory of motivation, I'll explain two school of thoughts and their idea.
This two school of thoughts are the mechanistic school and the rationalistic school.
The mechanistic school
This school of thought holds that motivation is innate (i.e everyone is born with it) and that it has to be expressed towards events or situations automatically.The rationalistic school
This school of thought holds that an individual is motivated, not because motivation is innate, but because individuals can use their cognitive( mental ability) to do whatever activities they wish to use it for.
motivation is very powerful apparatus in the life of an individual, so we should always be motivated all the time in other to bring out or best.