The Question That Separates Staying Put From Moving Forward

Suzy Welch has it. My client has it. Here’s how to find yours.

Someone told Suzy Welch recently that she has “why not energy.” It’s such a simple phrase, but it stuck with me, because I think it’s the real dividing line between people who stay put and people who move.

Most of us, when we’re unhappy with where we are, ask the wrong question. We ask, “What’s wrong with staying the same?” And the honest answer is usually: nothing, really. Staying is comfortable. Staying is safe. Staying doesn’t require you to risk anything.

But staying the same also isn’t going to change anything. And at some point, that has to be enough of a reason to move.

A client of mine put this into words better than I ever could. She told me that for a long time, she used to walk past a certain space — a building, a storefront, an opportunity — and feel a small ache every time. Not quite regret yet, but close to it. She knew what she wanted to do with that space. She just hadn’t done it.

Her biggest fear wasn’t failing. It was this: watching someone else take her dream while she stood by, still deciding.

So she stopped deciding and started doing. And now, when she walks past that same space, she doesn’t feel the ache anymore. She feels something much better: “This is mine. This is my time.”

That’s why not energy in action. It’s not recklessness, and it’s not blind optimism. It’s simply refusing to let “what if it doesn’t work” carry more weight than “what if I never try.”

Here’s the part I want to name directly, because I see it in session after session: the “why not” question rarely shows up as a bolt of courage. It shows up quietly, almost as a nuisance — a stray thought you can wave away a dozen times before it finally sticks. The work isn’t manufacturing bravery from nothing. It’s noticing that the thought keeps returning, and deciding that this time, you’ll follow it instead of filing it away again.

If you’re standing at your own version of that space right now — wondering whether it’s too late, or too risky, or too much — I’d ask you the same question I ask my clients: why not?

This is your goal. This is your time.

Image direction: No specific idea — generic office/threshold/doorway or storefront image works well thematically. Generic professional image is fine otherwise.

If this stirred something, that’s worth paying attention to.  Let’s talk about what your “why not” actually is.

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Watch the Youtube of my guest appearance on Suzy Welch’s podcast.