“Do you want to do this?”
Two follow-up questions we hear often are “why” and “why not”.
The difference here is the default state. When we ask “why”, the default response is a no and the onus lies on the answer to change that to a yes. When we ask “why not”, the default response is a yes, and the onus lies on the answer to change that to a no.
We all know the power of a default response. So much so that the phrase “why not” isn’t really a question. It is synonymous with “yes”.
Most of us suffer from the problem of saying “yes” too easily. When you catch yourself saying “why not”, try and retrace your steps.
