I'm going through a period of my life in which I am closely examining why I am the way I am, and why I do the things I do. Difficult questions to answer... perhaps impossible.
I have found some interesting tools to help me think about my motivations, and one of the best is Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Though I certainly do not subscribe to the model as gospel, it is definitely a useful lens for focusing my thoughts.
I believe that many of my flaws stem from two sources: misidentifying one need as another; and failing to recognize when one need is sufficiently satisfied and that I should devote more attention to another.
Yes, I understand that desire to know "why I am the way I am, and why I do the things I do."
Check out the MBTI sytem. Self tests are available online. David Keirsey's "Please Understand Me II" is a good place to start. The pyrimid you show will vary by the four different personality traits each person has. I'm reading "Gifts Differing" now. I would bet that you are a ENTJ.
I can think of about 100 humerous ways to knock down your straight man lines here, but I won't.
I suspect that the potential result is worth a about 20 hours of your time, and is pretty difficult without an neutral listener and questioner.
However, I would propose that knowing thyself as thou art now is much more profitable. The serenity prayer is so right for life. Get a copy of my book and take the tests in there. Get over the stuff you'll never get right. Get busy using the stuff you already have right. Pick a couple of things that really matter and work on fixing them.
II: Yes, I'm ENTJ now, though I used to be INTJ.
Maslow's hierarchy is a great tool for understanding oneself and others, for both personal and global perspectives. The hierarchy can explain our behavior on a daily basis, at a point in our lives as a larger view, or the behavior of nations on an even larger scale. Certainly there are other tools to understand our motivations, but Maslow's is so easy to understand and apply.
How is sexual intimacy a more immediate need than morality? I know people who give charitably without having security of health, employment, or housing. I guess I just don't understand this hierarchy. I'd rather use something with a Christian perspective seeing myself as I rightly am in relation to holiness than my 'needs hierarchy'.