Note 9: The Calm After the Storm You Created

I just finished my design school for interior designers yesterday in Phoenix.

Every time I run one of these intensives, there’s a moment I recognize immediately. It doesn’t announce itself. It isn’t dramatic. But once you’ve seen it enough times, you can’t miss it.

It’s the moment someone stops managing the conversation in their head and starts telling the truth.

Before that shift, people are usually articulate, thoughtful, and careful. They explain their situation well. They’ve done the thinking. They’ve researched. They can outline the risks and tradeoffs better than most.

What they haven’t done yet is decide.

Then something changes.

The looping slows down. The story simplifies. The question narrows instead of expanding. You can feel the energy settle when they stop arguing with themselves.

It’s the calm after the storm they created.

Over the years, I’ve watched this happen hundreds of times. With designers. With entrepreneurs. With people standing at the edge of reinvention.

The pattern is consistent.

They aren’t confused. They aren’t unprepared. They aren’t lacking information.

They’re standing in front of consequences.

Once they accept that choosing will close certain doors, the decision stops being theoretical. It becomes real. And once it’s real, it stops haunting them.

This week, I watched that shift again and again.

Not as a breakthrough moment. As a quiet settling. A willingness to move forward without guarantees.

They didn’t eliminate fear. They didn’t wait for it to disappear. They decided with it present.

That’s the part most people miss.

They decided.

Next comes execution.

That order matters. I’ve never seen it work the other way around.

If this resonates, you can learn more about The Decision Room or Apply Here.