It's always helpful to think about how your action relates to your good intentions. When's the last time you thought through a self-assessment, including these points?
Motivation
How do you know if you are taking action for the "right" reason or in the "right" place? Only you can decide what is right for you, so make sure you take time to check in with yourself before making a long term commitment. You can probably assess your motivation by just taking a few minutes to quietly reflect, but if you need a little more direction, try Assessment.com or another personality assessment test to get a little outside perspective on what motivates you most.
Commitment
How much time and energy will you be able to commit to your cause? Have you been honest with yourself and the others you work with? If you only have a few hours a week to devote to a project, or a year left on campus before you will leave the community, be transparent about those restrictions. There are still plenty of ways to take action and make a difference no matter how much time you can commit.
Lead By Listening
Maybe you have a great idea to revitalize music in schools for the neighborhood you live in. Before you implement your plan, make sure you look around your community and find out what else is being done. If there are already three organizations doing similar work, you don’t want to step on toes or compete for resources. There is nothing wrong with many different people working on an issue, but make sure you listen before you take the lead. You never know what you might learn!
Listening to your group members and facilitating discussion seems basic, but often requires a lot of effort. Check out the WikiHow article Be a Good Listener or the Park Service article on dialogue to learn how to improve on your leading-by-listening skills.
Balance
There is nothing wrong about having lots of different things going on in your life, but take them all into account when planning to take action. If you are hopelessly overstretched, the quality of your commitment and motivation goes down. There is no shame in taking some time for yourself!
Sustainability
Let's say you have been working on a project near your high school, but you're about to graduate. Have you made it easy for someone else to pick up where you left off? Try our Transitioning Leadership workshop (PDF) to set your group up for future successes long after you leave.
Continuity
What's your end goal? What steps are you taking to reach it, and what will happen after you do?
Use this practical assessment guide (PDF) by the Josesh Rowntree Foundation to take a look at the effectiveness of your group and to make your projects even better.
There are several more tools listed on the Assessments page of Idealist's Community Action Center for personal and group evaluation and reflection.
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If you've started or are working with a nonprofit organization, you can use this site to help evaluate your employees, programs, board of directors, and more.
Contact us with questions, comments, and additional resources.
