By following the arc to the conclusion, we do not mean you should say, “And then I realized…” Please avoid this phrase at all costs. Often, people will cue the change in the story by saying “And then I realized” or “In that moment.” As clean and neat as it would be for us as storytellers, very often the big moments of our lives don’t immediately change us. Sometimes they’re the catalyst for change, the first domino in a beautiful cascade. We may realize the magnitude of an experience only in hindsight.
