This is an age old question that we ask ourselves whenever we are faced with making a decision to take action. Which type of action doesn't matter. We are deciding whether to act or not to act. Our honest answer to this question often determines the degree to which we commit ourselves and dedicate ourselves to the mission, vision, and the goals of the organization asking us to do something.

Let us take a case, for example. An individual was asked to join a group of volunteers whose mission it was to help poor, bright kids get a high school education by offering them scholarships. The individual reflected on the offer. "What's in it for me?" the individual asked. There was no answer immediately coming forth. There was only deafening silence.

Staring blankly at the screen, the individual who was asked couldn't come up with one compelling reason to join the group. On the other side of the argument, the individual was able to come up very easily with a multitude of reasons not to join.

But the individual was pressured to join. Peer pressure is a terrible thing and in the end could yield bad results. First of all, the pressured individual had no desire to learn all there was to learn about the organization. Secondly, the individual was reduced to just going over the actions and not really feeling their importance and significance. Thirdly, at each turn the individual threatened to quit. Fourthly, the individual thought that since the organization was hurting so badly they needed help even from disinterested people, the individual became oblivious to the dire financial condition of the organization and practiced gross profligacy.

In the end neither party could see eye-to-eye. The individual who was pressured to join left the organization. Unbeknownst to the individual, it was the scholars who suffered most from all the machinations and feigned interest. It would have been better had the individual never joined the organization.