What 36 Retreats Taught Me About How Founders Make Decisions

I didn't set out to study decision-making.

I set out to create a space where people could slow down. When I ran the first MINOMA retreat in 2019, the idea was simple: take a small group of founders and professionals, put them somewhere beautiful and unhurried, and see what happened.

What happened surprised me. People didn't just rest. They shifted. Decisions they'd been circling for months became clear within days. Not because anyone told them what to do. Because they'd finally had the conditions to hear themselves.

After 36 retreats and working with over 250 people, I've noticed consistent patterns in how decisions arrived — and what was getting in the way before. Here's what I've learned.

The decision was rarely the problem

Most people arrive at a retreat thinking they have a decision problem. Should I sell the company or keep building it? Should I end this partnership? Should I move country? Should I simplify or scale?

But in almost every case, the decision itself isn't the problem. The person knows — at some level — what they want to do. What they don't have is a state to trust that knowing from. Slowing down doesn't give them new information. It reduces the interference so they can hear the information they already have.

The urgency is almost always false

One of the first things I notice in every group is how many people are carrying a sense of urgency that doesn't hold up to examination. The decision feels like it needs to be made this week. But when you ask "what actually happens if you take two more weeks?" — the answer is usually "not much."

Urgency is often a stress response, not an accurate read of the situation. One of the most reliable things I can do in a retreat is simply give someone permission to not decide yet. Half the time, within 24 hours, the answer arrives on its own.

Nervous system state changes everything

After working with hundreds of founders, the connection between nervous system state and decision quality is impossible to ignore. People who arrive exhausted, overstimulated, or anxious make different decisions — literally — from the same people after two days of decent sleep, physical movement, good food, and space.

This is why the first thing we do in every session and retreat is regulation — not discussion, not strategy, not analysis. We create the physiological conditions for clear thinking before we try to think clearly.

The body often knows before the mind does

Repeatedly, I've watched people have a somatic response to a decision before they've consciously registered it intellectually. A tightening in the chest when they imagine one path. An expansion when they imagine another.

Most of us have been trained to override these signals. To distrust them as "just feelings." But in my experience, the body is often processing something the analytical mind is too invested to see clearly. Learning to notice what your body is communicating — and to distinguish that from anxiety or avoidance — is one of the most useful skills I've seen founders develop.

What actually happens in the room

I'm often asked what we actually do at MINOMA retreats. People expect a curriculum. What we actually do is create conditions. Regulated mornings. Space in the middle of the day for reflection. Structured inquiry in the afternoons. Group conversations in the evenings that are honest in a way most professional environments don't allow.

By day three, most people are operating differently. Not because anything dramatic has happened. Because the accumulated effect of slowing down, sleeping, moving, and being genuinely heard shifts something. Decisions that felt impossible start to feel navigable.

What you can do right now

You don't need a week in Morocco to access more clarity. The core principle — regulate first, then decide — is available anywhere, at any time.

The MINOMA Decision Reset is a free 10-minute guided audio that walks you through the first step of the process.

→ Get the free 10-minute Decision Reset

For those who want to experience the full method with guidance, our Decision Sessions are free for now.

→ Reserve your place

And for those ready for a more significant reset — the next retreat is in Taghazout, Morocco, November 8–15, 2026.

→ Learn more about the retreat

Maris Kohv is the founder of MINOMA. She has hosted decision clarity retreats for founders and professionals across Europe and Morocco since 2019.