The Limits of Persuasion

Ok, so I noticed something a couple of weeks ago with a particular students of mine. I couldn't figure this kid out. He didn't seem like he wanted to participate in fitness and never dressed in his strip. He had an attitude of "whatever" to me and I just didn't know what to make of it. He was also really quiet, and like never talked. I had to try to motivate this kid, but I wasn't sure how. He wouldn't look at me if I said something positive and he didn't really react if I said something otherwise. So when I was doing the hill run, I picked a spot right next to him. He didn't make much of an effort and started to complain a bit. So I looked at him and said "Hey, I bet I can beat you in this." He looked pretty surprised and told me " Yeah right." "You're just saying that because you know I'll beat you bad" I said with a grin. Suddenly when Mr.Vaughan whistled this kid was suddenly way up the hill, sprinting. He turned around as I came up with a huge grin and said "I beat you!" For the rest of the hill run I found myself pretty challenged, sometimes he beat me and sometimes we tied. I guess I just thought that telling positive comments to someone could motivate them a lot, but really everyone is motivated by something different. In this case, it was friendly competition.