What is the force that moves you, inspiration or desperation?

What is your motivational force, inspiration or desperation? Like the fight or flight reaction it seems to me that people are motivated by the desire to get ahead of the fear of loss over the desire to gain. Say one needed a hefty amount of cash and they had to liquidate some assets. They may not liquidate their collection of stamps, vintage comic books, Waterford crystal to invest in classes or such that will arm them with information that might make them money to insane money in the future, but if they thought they were going to lose their place of living they would. Some would figure they can’t take those collectables with them and even if they held onto them another 15 years they would still not gain as much off them as they could generate from information or a business that would earn them dozens upon dozens of times more. What would get you to make a bold stroke, the desire to gain greatly or to try to prevent a big loss?