How many times do we talk about what we want or need to do, and then not do it? It is the stuff New Year’s resolutions are made of – to eat healthier, lose weight, get more sleep, get organized, improve the quality of our relationships, blah blah blah. That talk may be internal or we may share it with others. But in either case, talk alone doesn’t make it happen.

The Chinese proverb - Talk doesn’t cook rice - makes a distinction between talking and doing. Talking is easy; changing and doing are hard.

The three strategies I have personally found to be most effective in getting the rice cooked are having motivating goals, delegating and being held accountable.

In a literal sense we are motivated to cook rice when we are hungry. Another example of motivation from my own life: straightening my study, which always seems to be on my task list. I carry the task list from place to place and transfer uncompleted items (like the straightening) to new lists when I discard the old one. However, if I really need uncluttered space to do some of the specific tasks important to me or if I need to continually locate some of the items in the disorganized heap – then I am motivated to get it done.

I sometimes make the analogy to moving a string in the right direction. It is easier to pull the string than to push it. A motivating goal may pull us into the future more effectively than an item on a task list.

If we want to get something done and are willing to give up some control, then the second strategy – delegating the responsibility –will work. Or we can partner with someone and work together.

The third strategy is the accountability factor. I am more likely to straighten my study if my wife Lucy Rose is giving a tour of the house including my study. I do not want to embarrass her or me.

I use the accountability factor frequently in managing my business operations. On a quarterly basis, I meet with a consultant who conducts a “Periodic Business Review” of my business. I also meet quarterly with a group of entrepreneurs with whom I share my personal and professional goals and my progress towards reaching them. I become accountable to these outside reviewers.

In my financial consulting practice I help motivate clients to improve their financial situation by working with them to define their goals, values and objectives.

This process, which takes substantial time, lets clients identify what is really, truly important for them. For example, some of my clients want their investments organized so that they become financially independent and can retire. Others end up redoing their wills when they have a clear picture of what they want to happen, and not happen, to their children – when they are no longer around to help them.

The understanding clients achieve from identifying important goals pulls them into a future which is right for them. They are now able to put day-to-day decisions into context, encouraging them to act.

I also meet with my clients regularly and periodically. They may delegate tasks to us; sometimes we work and solve problems together.

I take notes at meetings. When we meet again, I will ask the client specific questions – how did it go at the meeting with the attorney when she redid your will? They know I will ask them, and that helps to keep them accountable. Planning for the future is more than preparing a document that gets filed away somewhere. It is about finding the right things to do. And then working together to make sure they are done right.

I wish you all the best in developing a track that is right for you, and then making your dreams come true. Let me know how I can help you in your quest for your plan for life.