Being an advisor, counselor or mentor is hard enough, but if your students, families, advisees or mentees won't do the things you advise and counsel then it's virtually impossible. Here are reasons why students may not do what you ask and how you might get them to do so.

1) Students Don't Know What The Should Do -- Your advising, counseling or mentoring program probably has a list of tasks or To Do's that students need to complete just to get started. You can tell them what they are, but they might not receive or remember it. Pre-populating the 2 to 10 things they need to do to get started in the Palette app can help. These things could be forms to fill out, meetings to set, essays to write, applications to complete or anything else.

2) Your To-Do's Might Be Forgotten -- Students, families, advisees and mentees are busy. You have things you want them to do, but so do their teachers, coaches, pastors, employers, parents and more. Sending reminders via chat and listing new To Dos in the Palette app can help.

3) Are You The Right Influencer? -- They say that the presence of a caring adult is the single most powerful force in a student's life. But, which adult? Perhaps the student is more likely to listen to their parent, pastor or employer? As an advisor, counselor or mentor, you may be better served by asking someone else in the student's Success Network on the Palette app whether they would be willing to remind the student to complete the tasks necessary to be successful.

4) Bribe Them! -- If the To Dos are the "stick" the Opportunities are the "carrot." Add and suggest Opportunities that will appeal to the students that are slow to do what they need to do. This lets you engage the student around something they want to do and tell them the things they need to do to get there.

5) Just Ask -- If all else fails, just ask the student if everything is OK. Sometimes, a student just needs someone to talk to.