Motivation is among the most important things that anyone dealing with a health condition–let alone someone who is training for an athletic event or just for weight loss–has to deal with.

What motivates me? My primary motivation is to outlive my mother, and also to see my nine year old niece grow up. After my father (also a diabetic, but one who never knew it–and neither did anyone else until he had the stroke that eventually caused his death) passed away, one of my primary jobs became taking care of my mother. And part of doing the jobs that my dad did was also caring for my then one year old niece, who is now nine.

Success also motivates me. This past week I ordered a couple of pairs of Tactical 5.11 pants off of eBay with a 36 inch waist–almost all of my pants are 38 and they’re all way loose–and I found the 36 loose as well. Looking at old pictures of myself (which I’m planning to put up here at some point) also motivates me. And seeing folks around my age who are in some ways struggling with their health–like my cousin, a year older than me but heavier than I ever was at my peak and on medication for cardiac issues as well as diabetes–also motivates me.

Signing up for organized events motivates me, as I get more structure in my training program and more defined goals–plus I love being in them, just because I feel more part of a group and I like the t shirt at the end. And seeing some of the participants is motivating–in the Honolulu Marathon I limped through badly last year, for example, not only were there elderly marathoners, there was a double amputee and a blind woman with guide. If they could do it, I could do it too–and I did, even if barely.

Interestingly, if you notice, there’s not a lot there that’s negative in terms of motivating me. I don’t say that I want to keep my limbs, my vision, my kidney function–even though I do. As a guy who works largely with children and teaches parenting, one of the things I believe is that negative consequences are great in the short term for stopping negative behavior, but long term positive behavior is far better encouraged with positive consequences, so in this case, I stick to the positive.

There’s no one way to motivate yourself–or anyone else. What motivates me may not be what motivates you, and I’d like to hear from the readers: now that you know what motivates me, tell me, what motivates you?